Bread Crisis Fuels Tunisians’ Fears over Food Security

A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
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Bread Crisis Fuels Tunisians’ Fears over Food Security

A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)
A Tunisian citizen was able to buy quantities of bread after waiting his turn in the long queues. (AFP)

Everyday at dawn, Khaldoun Ben Amo, 63, heads to the neighborhood’s bakery to buy bread, to avoid the long queues that start to form in the early morning hours - a scene that is now common in Tunis.

Najia Khalafallah, 56, who lives in a village with one bakery, told Reuters that after 10 am she could not find a single loaf of bread, noting that residents were now registering their names and the number of required loaves of bread, which are not allowed to exceed five per family.

Such sad scenes are seen daily in all governorates of Tunisia. Everyday people stand in long queues in front of bakeries to get their bread.

Bread is a staple food product in Tunisian diet. The rate of consumption of bread per capita reaches 70 kilograms annually, and increases significantly during the month of Ramadan, according to official data from the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

The bread crisis in Tunisia fuels citizens’ fears about the existence of real threats affecting their food security, especially in light of the shortage of a number of basic foodstuffs, such as sugar, flour, rice and coffee, in addition to the milk crisis that emerged months ago.

President Kais Saeed accused “lobbyists and parties,” whom he did not name, of fabricating the crisis, calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, the Grain Board and all departments to “confront monopolists and those who tamper with the food security of Tunisians.”

“The aim of these successive crises is to fuel society for clear political ends,” he said, pointing to weak economic control, price hikes and the deterioration of the purchasing power.

Reports by the Tunisian Institute of Consumer indicate that about 900,000 pieces of bread are wasted yearly, at the cost of 100 million dinars ($33 million).

In conjunction with Saeed's statements, the Ministry of Commerce decided to stop supplying unlicensed bakeries with subsidized flour, which sparked the owners’ anger.

According to the Association for the Fight Against the Rentier Economy in Tunisia (ALERT), the bread crisis lies in structural problems, summarized in the level of local grain production, and the distribution of rations from mills to bakeries.

The association said that even in the best climatic conditions, local production was not able to cover the annual needs of grains, due to the neglect of the agricultural sector, especially main crops.

The Ministry of Agriculture had announced that the country’s wheat crop fell this year by 60 percent to 250,000 tons due to drought, increasing the country’s financial difficulties, at a time when the government is trying to obtain an international rescue package.

 

 



‘No One Dares’ … First Palestinian Response to Israeli Plan to Separate Hebron from PA

Israeli security forces stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the Palestinian side of the old city and market of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Israeli security forces stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the Palestinian side of the old city and market of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
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‘No One Dares’ … First Palestinian Response to Israeli Plan to Separate Hebron from PA

Israeli security forces stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the Palestinian side of the old city and market of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Israeli security forces stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the Palestinian side of the old city and market of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

A report published by The Wall Street Journal, and promoted by Israeli media on Sunday, has renewed focus on an Israeli plan dating back more than 60 years aimed at pushing for the creation of “emirates” or entities independent from the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The report focused on the Palestinian city of Hebron, and cited what it claimed were “21 tribal elders from Hebron,” who allegedly sent a letter in Hebrew to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for negotiations with them to join the Abraham Accords and consequently abandon the “two-state solution,” which Palestinians rely on to establish their state.

However, a Palestinian security source, in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, said: “What is happening is yet another Israeli attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority.”

“This is a failed plan,” he said: “No one here would dare take this step and say: I am the spy... I am the alternative to the Authority ... Those who tried that are known and represent no one.”

Reportedly, the elders included a detailed proposed timetable for talks to join the Abraham Accords and for “a fair and decent arrangement that would replace the Oslo Accords, which only brought damage, death, economic disaster and destruction.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, the initiative was helmed by Wadee al-Jaabari, who local city residents and its political leadership claim is unknown to them, and backed by "four other leading Hebron sheikhs.”

Palestinian city residents, including Jaabari's extended family members, condemned the proposal, saying that its authors do not represent them.

Israeli sources said that Economy Minister Nir Barkat stands behind the letter, which was allegedly sent to him. Barkat met at his home with al-Jaabari and the other sheikhs; he has held more than 12 meetings with them since February, The Wall Street Journal said. They asked him to forward the letter to Netanyahu and are now waiting for his response.

The sheikhs reportedly proposed that Israel grant work permits to 1,000 workers from Hebron on a trial basis, and then extend this to another 5,000.

According to Maariv newspaper, the Israeli government is “seeking to promote this plan to destroy the Palestinian Authority and the establishment of a Palestinian state.”