Commercial Goods Halt in Gaza as Merchants Protest Hamas Taxation
Commercial shipments to Gaza have ceased following a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas, threatening food and supply access for the territory.
POLICY WIRE — Jerusalem, Israel — Commercial shipments into the Gaza Strip have ground to a halt, with Israeli authorities reporting that no goods have entered the territory for two days. The suspension follows a breakdown in coordination between local merchants and Hamas, which officials attribute to a dispute over rising taxes.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian affairs in Gaza, stated that the decision by private-sector vendors to stop coordinating shipments will significantly impact the enclave. The agency warned that the move could reduce the daily volume of trucks entering the region to approximately 300, effectively cutting the previous flow of aid and commercial supplies in half.
The disruption threatens to exacerbate shortages of essential items, including food and winter clothing, for a population already heavily dependent on external aid. While Palestinian importers have denied the claims regarding the nature of the tax dispute, the halt in private-sector logistics remains a critical concern for the territory’s supply chain.
Despite the cessation of commercial traffic from Israel, a Gaza transport official confirmed that shipments arriving from Egypt via an Israeli-controlled crossing have continued. Humanitarian aid trucks are also reportedly still entering the territory, though the loss of private-sector participation—which typically accounts for half of the weekly truck volume—poses a major challenge to meeting daily delivery targets.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
