Amid Starvation and Mass Killings, This Gaza Baker Refused to Stop Her Work

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https://truthout.org/articles/amid-starvation-and-mass-killings-this-gaza-baker-refused-to-stop-her-work/

Amid Starvation and Mass Killings, This Gaza Baker Refused to Stop Her Work

“Finding flour alone took five full days,” says Dema Al-Buhisi, who continued baking in Gaza amid famine and bombings.

By Dalia Abu Ramadan , TRUTHOUT
Published December 26, 2025

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I asked her the secret behind her creativity, and she told me it came from the alternatives she invented herself: She used vinegar instead of eggs, and replaced fruit and coloring with turmeric to give her cakes a beautiful yellow hue.

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Al-Buhisi said, “When I work, I feel like I can breathe again. I love bringing joy to people. They used to call me the maker of happiness — even though all I do is make cakes — because I get to share their celebrations, their sweet moments.”

But when Al-Buhisi decided to resume baking in mid-March 2023, the shock of the barriers to doing so hit her hard. She had remained in Deir al-Balah, in the south, staying in her home throughout the war, but the room she used to work in — with all her tools, her refrigerator, and her supplies — had been damaged when the Israeli military bombed their neighbors’ house, leaving her own home severely affected. And every ingredient she had previously relied on had expired during those long six months of war.

And yet, Al-Buhisi did not consider giving up. Having lost all access to a refrigerator, a working oven, eggs, fruit, food coloring, and much more, she started modifying her recipes and baking small batches of cakes in a clay oven.

Over time, even obtaining firewood to fuel our clay ovens has become a challenge, so people have started burning wooden furniture from their homes, and some have sold it for the same purpose.

Nevertheless, in the face of these challenges, Al-Buhisi has continued to find creative ways to make cakes throughout the recent years of war. She even gained supporters from abroad who sent her money to bake cakes and cupcakes for distribution in camps of displaced people living in tents in southern Gaza. She told me she personally volunteered to distribute her cakes and cupcakes in the camps because she loves to hear children’s laughter.

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