Gaza residents emptied bread shelves Wednesday night as bakeries went on strike to protest the refusal of Hamas to raise the price of bread. The Associated Press quoted bakers as saying prices needed to be raised because of shortages that they said resulted from Israel 's partial closure of Gaza crossings following terrorist attacks at the crossings and an escalation in rocket attacks on Israel.

The report did not explain the connection between the price hike and the closure of the crossings, where tons of flour continue to enter Gaza every day as part of Israel's policy to allow shipments of basic goods. Last year, Israeli bakeries staged similar strikes, but the reason was the rapidly rising price of flour.

In Gaza, Hamas closed 11 bakeries that tried to raise prices unilaterally.