People in the Gaza Strip are having difficulty getting bread, due to an acute shortage of fuel and Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed bakeries.

An NHK staff member in Gaza, Mohammed Shehada, says he saw a long line of people in front of a bakery in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Thursday.

Shehada says it seems that the line gets longer every day as many people flock. He says that people begin to form such a line at around 5 a.m. and have to wait for at least three hours.

Some bakeries have been forced to close as fuel runs out and is excluded from humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza.

The United Nations announced on Wednesday that three shops that sell bread became unable to operate between last Friday and Wednesday due to lack of fuel.

Israeli airstrikes have reportedly destroyed six stores in Gaza City and two in northern Jabalia.

Currently, 19 stores which signed contracts with the UN continue to operate, supplying shelters with bread. But there are strong concerns that many of them will likely be forced to close unless they get fuel.

A UN organization estimates that current supplies of food in Gaza are sufficient for about 12 days, but says that the available stock at shops is expected to last for only five days.