Arabic version: إسرائيل توقف دخول السلع التجارية إلى غزة

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli authorities said no commercial goods had entered Gaza for two days, citing what they described as a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, announced the halt on Wednesday.

COGAT said merchants had decided to stop shipments in response to a 10,000-shekel ($3,220) fee allegedly imposed on every truck entering Gaza and a demand that 30 percent of sales be made in cash. Gaza’s government media office rejected the allegations, calling them a “blatant disinformation campaign and false statement”.

The media office said the fee was a voluntary contribution to a fund for people in need, including widows and orphans. It said cash payments were encouraged because of an acute cash shortage, but were not mandatory.

The suspension includes commercial shipments such as fruit and winter clothing, cutting off a source of food and other supplies for Gaza’s 2.1 million people. Aid groups typically bring staples including flour, while merchants import more perishable foods, including fruit and meat.

Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza’s private truckers union, said Israel had imposed the restrictions and was using ministry fees as a pretext. A global hunger monitor warned in July that more than two-thirds of people in Gaza could face acute hunger by year-end. Israel is obliged under a US-mediated agreement to allow at least 600 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza daily, though diplomats say far fewer usually enter.