In Gaza City, makeshift market by waste dump turns into unlikely hub for molokhia cigarettes. Vendors line dusty road,offering large plastic bags of dried molokhia leaves,a plant usually for cooking. Few packs of traditional tobacco remain.
Alaa Jundiya,27, opts for this unusual choice. He approaches vendor,who crushes leaves,mixes with liquid nicotine,rolls in thin paper. Jundiya,smoking for six years,notes how war and prices altered his habits . “A [tobacco] cigarette now costs 100 shekels ($34)… it’s insane,” he says,exhaling molokhia-tinged smoke.
Conflict's economic toll forces adaptation in Gaza . Jundiya,unemployed after carpenter job loss,feels weight of rising costs. “Before the war we tried everything… different types of tobacco, imported brands,” he recalls. “Now we’re smoking whatever we can dry and roll. It’s not a real alternative - it’s just a necessity.”
As war drags on,high living costs reshape Gaza life . Inflation makes traditional tobacco a luxury . For Jundiya and others,molokhia cigarettes are desperate move in a place where choices shrink…
