Commercial Goods to Gaza Halted Amid Tax Dispute — SkimNews
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- COGAT announced on Oct. 14, 2026 that no commercial goods had entered Gaza for two days, suspending shipments of fruit, meat, and winter clothing that merchants normally supply while aid groups bring staples like flour.
- COGAT blamed the suspension on Palestinian merchants angry over Hamas taxation; head of Gaza's private truckers union Nahed Sheheiber rejected the account, saying "the Israelis are the ones who imposed the restrictions" and are using Hamas fees as a pretext.
- Gaza's Ministry of Economy had been asking merchants to pay roughly 10,000 shekels (about $3,226) per truck entering the strip, which Undersecretary Khaled Al-Raqab characterized as a "donation" to pay civil servants rather than a tax.
- COGAT said Gaza's 2 million residents need approximately 250 truckloads of goods per day, well below the 600-truck minimum stipulated by the US-brokered ceasefire.
- Norwegian Refugee Council spokesperson Shaina Low warned that "the humanitarian sector on its own cannot meet the needs of all the people" and that "the markets need to be functioning" to keep prices under control.
- A UN-backed food insecurity report said conditions in Gaza improved since famine was declared in August 2025 but remain at crisis levels, cautioning that "even small disruptions to humanitarian access could rapidly reverse recent gains."
Why it matters: With Gaza's 2 million residents already relying on roughly 250 truckloads of goods per day — less than half the 600-truck minimum in last year's ceasefire — any sustained commercial shutdown threatens to undo fragile food-security gains that the UN says remain at crisis levels. The Israeli-Palestinian dispute over who actually pulled the lever matters because it will determine whether the suspension becomes an aid-policy lever or a commercial-dispute story.
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