GAZA CITY — A once-common disposable lighter has become a critical tool for survival in Gaza, enabling families to cook, bake, and heat water amidst severe shortages of cooking gas and soaring fuel prices. The ongoing conflict, which began in October 2023, has disrupted supply chains, making these small devices scarce and prohibitively expensive.

Rabab Deifallah, a mother of five, described how her family's daily life hinges on her ability to start a fire using a battered lighter. She meticulously cares for it, with her son having repaired it multiple times as new ones are nearly impossible to find. "Our whole daily life depends on fire," Deifallah told Al Jazeera, emphasizing that the lighter is the essential first step.

Before the war, lighters were inexpensive, costing about $0.33 for three. Today, a new lighter can fetch between $27 and $33, a price many Palestinian families cannot afford. Deifallah recently spent $12 to repair her old lighter, a sum that forced her to choose between a functional fire starter and essential food like flour.

This scarcity means a single lighter is often shared among multiple families, passed between tents for communal use. Some days, Deifallah cannot find a lighter at all, forcing her family to eat cold meals or rely on neighbours for a spark or oven use. The lighter has transformed from a convenience to a symbol of basic needs like food and warmth.

Hasnaa Mansour, another displaced resident, faces similar challenges. She relies on a clay oven she built herself, baking and selling food to support her family after her husband's tailoring business collapsed due to the war. The difficulty in obtaining lighters directly impacts her ability to generate income and provide for her children.

The struggle for lighters highlights the broader economic devastation in Gaza. Basic necessities have become luxury items, and families are forced to make difficult choices between essential goods. The shared reliance on these small tools underscores a community spirit and resilience in the face of overwhelming hardship.

Experts note that such everyday objects becoming scarce and valuable points to a complete breakdown of normal economic activity. The high cost and limited availability of lighters are symptomatic of the wider crisis affecting fuel, food, and other essential supplies in the Gaza Strip.

As the conflict continues, the demand for and value of simple tools like lighters are expected to remain high. The situation raises questions about the long-term availability of basic necessities and the adaptive strategies Gaza's population will continue to employ to navigate their challenging circumstances.