JERUSALEM, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Israel said commercial goods were no longer entering Gaza over what it said was a dispute over taxes between local merchants and Hamas, shutting off a vital source of food and other goods in the territory where the population is dependent on aid.
COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday, citing what it said was a decision by Gazan merchants to stop coordinating with COGAT on the entry of commercial goods.
It said the Gazan merchants had told COGAT that they had made the decision in response to a 10,000 shekel ($3,220) fee imposed by Hamas on each truck entering Gaza and a demand for 30% of all of their sales in Gaza to be carried out in cash.
Hamas later said that the 10,000 shekel fee was a voluntary payment by wealthy Gazans to a national fund that seeks to provide for those in need such as widows and orphans. It also said that cash payments were encouraged due to what it described as an acute cash shortage in the war-torn territory.
A majority of Gazans are dependent on aid supplies, following three years of war, repeated displacement and severe restrictions imposed by Israel on aid deliveries.
A global hunger monitor in July warned that more than two thirds of Gazans could face acute hunger by the year-end. Around 2 million Gazans live in the territory, most in makeshift shelters.
Nahed Shhaibar, the head of the private transport union in Gaza, said that not a single truck carrying commercial products from Israel entered Gaza on Thursday. However, he said trucks carrying humanitarian aid had entered, as had trucks carrying commercial goods from Egypt via an Israeli-controlled crossing.
COGAT said the decision by Gazan merchants would cut the total number of trucks, which carry both humanitarian and commercial goods, entering Gaza each day to around 300 — or half.
Diplomats say that far fewer than 600 trucks normally enter Gaza each day. Shhaibar said the figure was closer to 300, with two thirds carrying commercial goods.
Israel is obliged under a US-mediated agreement to allow a minimum of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza each day. However, it says it is required to allow only 600 trucks and that commercial goods are needed to supplement aid supplies.
($1 = 3.1038 shekels)
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Editing by Alison Williams)
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