GAZA, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- In a small workshop in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, 20-year-old Wael Siam pedals tirelessly on an old bicycle. The bike's rear wheel is connected to a small generator beside it.
With each turn of the pedal, Siam generates electricity to power small motors that transfer gas from larger cylinders to smaller ones.
"When I pedal, the generator produces current that powers small motors to pump gas," Siam said. "It is rudimentary, but necessary due to frequent power outages and fuel scarcity."
Through this job, Siam supports his mother and three siblings after his father was killed in an Israeli airstrike. In Gaza's war-torn economy, Siam is one of many young people who have turned to this strenuous work as a crucial source of income, given the lack of other job opportunities.
"This work requires long hours, sometimes exceeding 12 hours a day, for a financial return of no more than 10 U.S. dollars," he said.
Pausing to catch his breath, he added that physical exhaustion is preferable to idleness.
According to Siam, his job exists because of the ongoing fuel shortage crisis in Gaza. Before the war, Gaza's monthly demand for cooking gas ranged from 12,000 to 15,000 tons, with the average household using about 40 kg.
Currently, each family receives just 8 kg of gas per distribution cycle, which may last up to three months, at a cost of around 8 U.S. dollars. On the black market, however, the same amount can fetch up to 30 dollars.
As a result, many families opt to sell their gas rations at high prices to cover basic needs like flour, rice, oil, and medicine.
"This falls under the black market and is illegal," he said. "But the exceptional circumstances created by the war have left people with few options."
As ordinary people are forced to sell their gas rations to support their families, restaurant and cafe owners also have no choice but to buy expensive gas to keep their businesses afloat.
"Prolonged shortages have created a parallel economy based on basic necessities," Siam added. "We are not happy working in this field, but people need gas for cooking, and we need to work to live."
Even with the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, fuel and cooking gas remain in short supply due to Israeli restrictions on imports and damage to storage and distribution facilities during the conflict.
The shortage is especially severe as Ramadan approaches, when gas demand typically increases.
"This profession has established itself in the Gazan market, like many new trades that emerged to meet urgent needs," Mohammed al-Jaidi, owner of the workshop where Siam works, told Xinhua.
Nearby, 45-year-old Ahmed Salem, a displaced man from the northern Gaza Strip now living in Khan Younis, held two cylinders, each weighing only a few kilograms, waiting to sell.
"I have to sell my gas to buy medicine for my elderly mother," he told Xinhua. "Without selling part of this gas, I cannot afford her medicines, nor the food we need each day."
Just a short distance away, Ibrahim Hamto clutched an empty cylinder, ready to pay the steep prices for gas. "I fear a return to previous gas embargoes," he told Xinhua.
"Last time, families suddenly found themselves without cooking fuel for days, and it disrupted our meals, our routines, everything. We do not want to experience that again," he said.
"I am willing to pay extra now just to ensure we have enough gas at home. It is not about profit, but about survival -- making sure my family can cook, eat, and carry on with daily life despite the shortages," he added. ■
