Next to a rubbish dump in central Gaza City, a small open-air market stretches along a dusty road. Makeshift stalls on either side display large plastic bags filled with dried molokhia leaves alongside a few remaining packets of real cigarettes.
Molokhia—the leaf of the jute mallow plant—is traditionally used to make a thick, slimy soup. But at these stalls, the dried leaves are being repurposed to produce what locals call 'molokhia cigarettes.'
Alaa Jundiya, 27, a smoker for six years, says his personal habit has become another casualty of Gaza's soaring cost of living. War-driven hyperinflation has sent prices through the roof: 'A single cigarette now costs 100 shekels (about $34). That's insane. It doesn't even feel like a real cigarette anymore… but we use them because we have no other choice.'
The vendor grabs a handful of dried leaves, crushes them in his palm, adds a few drops of liquid nicotine, rolls the mixture in thin paper, and hands it to the customer. This hand-rolled substitute is gradually replacing genuine cigarettes, which have become a luxury item for Alaa—a father of two who has been unemployed since the war began.
A carpenter who lost his job at the start of the conflict, Alaa finds each packet of real cigarettes an unbearable burden: 'Before the war, we tried all kinds of cigarettes, including imported brands. Now we smoke whatever we can dry and roll. It's not a real solution—it's just necessity.'
Smoking molokhia laced with nicotine carries serious health risks, from lung damage to acute poisoning. But for residents of Gaza—already facing shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials—this makeshift fix is seen as a last resort in desperate times.
