Commercial supplies from Israel to the Gaza Strip have been suspended due to a dispute between Palestinian traders and the "Hamas" movement over new financial requirements, the Israeli service COGAT reported, quoted by Reuters.
COGAT indicates that traders have stopped coordinating with Israeli authorities on the import of goods after "Hamas" demanded 10,000 shekels, or about $3,220, for each truck entering Gaza. According to the Israeli side, the movement also insisted that 30% of the traders' sales be made in cash.
„Hamas“ disputes this version. The movement describes the amount as a "voluntary donation" by wealthy Gazans to a national fund intended to assist widows, orphans and other needy people. They explain the insistence on cash payments by the acute shortage of cash in the territory devastated by the long war.
Not a single truck from Israel entered
The chairman of the Gaza Private Transporters' Union, Nahed Shkhaibar, confirmed that not a single truck carrying commercial goods from Israel entered the Palestinian territory on Thursday. According to him, humanitarian supplies continued, as did the import of commercial goods from Egypt through an Israeli-controlled border crossing.
According to COGAT, the cessation of coordination with local traders will reduce the total number of trucks carrying humanitarian and commercial supplies to about 300 per day. The Israeli service describes this as a halving.
However, diplomatic sources dispute the figures for the usual number of trucks, stating that it is significantly below 600 per day. Shkhebar estimates the average daily number at around 300 trucks, with approximately two-thirds of them carrying commercial goods.
Dispute over the number of trucks
Under an agreement brokered by the US, Israel has committed to allowing at least 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid per day. The Israeli side maintains that the obligation concerns the total number of trucks, and commercial deliveries must supplement humanitarian aid.
The interruption of commercial imports poses an additional risk to the supply of food and essential goods to the population. Most Gazans depend on humanitarian aid after three years of war, repeated displacement and severe supply restrictions.
In July, an international food security watchdog warned that more than two-thirds of the population could face acute food shortages by the end of the year. The Gaza Strip is home to about two million people, most of whom are living in temporary shelters.
Sources: news.bg