A/HRC/10/22 page 15 destruction debilitated commercial enterprises and public infrastructure, including the largest flour mill and food processing plants in Gaza. The Special Rapporteur considers that this constitutes a serious violation of customary international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.34 2. Closures and restrictions to free movement of goods, including food aid 47. Even before the recent conflict, recurrent closure of border crossings and other security measures had impeded the passage and delivery of food assistance and of traded foodstuffs. The consequences have been dramatic; for example, the closure of the Karni border crossing for over 46 days in the first quarter of 2006 resulted in severe shortages of food and the depletion of food reserves, and most bakeries in the Gaza Strip were forced to close owing to shortages of flour and fuel, leading to the rationing of bread. The prohibition of the export of agricultural products from Gaza at the height of the harvesting season reportedly led to the waste of hundreds of tons of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries and a loss of millions of dollars.35 Restrictions on the entry of supplies essential for food production, such as fuel, fertilizers, plastics and seeds, have also been imposed over the years by the Israeli blockade. 48. The complete closure of Gaza’s borders during the recent armed conflict affected both family-level food production and public and commercial centres. In a situation report from the Humanitarian Coordinator, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that, in early January, only nine bakeries remained operational, causing many people to wait from 5 to 7 hours a day just to purchase a day’s supply of bread. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, shortages of nutritious and affordable food have further eroded food security for people in Gaza; meat and many vegetables are scarce and cost three times their regular price. 49. According to the Palestine Monitor Fact Sheet of 18 December 2008, even before the hostilities, approximately 80 per cent of families in Gaza relied on humanitarian food aid in order to survive;35 this number had reached approximately 91 per cent by early February 2009.36 In this context, obstacles to the delivery of urgently needed food aid during the recent hostilities caused by fuel shortages and the closure of the borders resulted in violations of the right to food on a large scale. The continuous bombing of civilian areas further impeded aid agencies from having access to hungry people, who were unable, or too afraid, to meet aid convoys;22 the number of hungry people without access to basic food necessary for their survival soared as a result. Normal caseloads from the World Food Programme and the United Nations Relief and 34 ICRC study, rule 54. 35 A/HRC/4/30/Add.1, para. 37. 36 Save the Children: children of the Gaza crisis, Fact Sheet, 27 January 2009.