Israel says commercial goods have stopped entering Gaza amid tax dispute
Israel said commercial goods have stopped entering Gaza after a dispute involving local merchants and Hamas over taxes and cash payments. The announcement was made by COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, which said Gazan merchants had stopped coordinating with it on the entry of commercial goods. The halt affects a key supply channel in a territory where many residents depend on aid and imported goods.
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COGAT said the merchants had told it they were responding to a 10,000 shekel fee imposed by Hamas on each truck entering Gaza and a demand for 30% of sales in Gaza to be paid in cash. Hamas later said the fee was a voluntary payment by wealthy Gazans to a national fund intended to help people in need, including widows and orphans. It also said cash payments were being encouraged because of an acute shortage of cash in the war-torn territory.
Nahed Shhaibar, head of the private transport union in Gaza, said no truck carrying commercial products from Israel entered Gaza on the day of the announcement. He said humanitarian aid trucks were still entering, along with commercial goods from Egypt via an Israeli-controlled crossing. COGAT said the decision by Gazan merchants would reduce the total number of trucks entering Gaza each day to around 300, about half the usual level it cited.
The development matters because Gaza remains heavily dependent on outside supplies after three years of war, repeated displacement and severe restrictions on aid deliveries. A global hunger monitor warned in July that more than two-thirds of Gazans could face acute hunger by the end of the year. Around two million people live in the territory, many in makeshift shelters, making the flow of food, fuel and other goods central to daily survival.
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The dispute also highlights the fragile balance between humanitarian aid and commercial imports in Gaza. Israel says it is obliged under a US-mediated agreement to allow a minimum of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza each day, while also arguing that commercial goods are needed to supplement aid supplies. Diplomats have said far fewer than 600 trucks normally enter each day, and Shhaibar said the figure was closer to 300, with two thirds carrying commercial goods.
What remains unclear is how long the halt in commercial imports will last and whether merchants and Hamas can reach an agreement that restores the flow. It is also not clear whether the disruption will affect prices, availability or distribution inside Gaza in the coming days. The next developments to watch are any further statements from COGAT, Hamas or merchant representatives, and whether humanitarian access is affected beyond the current aid deliveries.
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