Israel accused of extracting billions from Gaza through wartime trade controls

Israeli occupation authorities have intensified economic measures against the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war, imposing what Palestinian sources describe as “forced arrangements” that have enabled Israel to extract vast sums from Gaza’s economy while deepening humanitarian suffering.

According to information obtained by Arabi21 from informed sources, Israeli forces have effectively turned Gaza’s markets and commercial sector into a new arena of pressure, using trade restrictions and financial controls as tools to punish the population and exhaust its remaining resources. The sources said these measures have contributed to financing part of the cost of the war from the pockets of Gaza’s residents themselves.

The sources explained that Israeli authorities have restricted the import of goods into Gaza to a very limited number of merchants, allowing only 10 traders to bring in commercial supplies. These arrangements, they said, are carried out through opaque procedures that are not subject to Palestinian oversight and do not involve the Gaza Chamber of Commerce.

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As a result, the sources noted, a black market has flourished, monopolies have emerged, and the cost of goods has soared due to the imposition of high fees on imports and the concentration of commercial activity in the hands of a small group of approved traders.

The same sources indicated that at least one of the merchants granted permission to import goods is linked to the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was established by Washington in coordination with Israel. The foundation has been widely criticised and has been associated, according to Palestinian accounts, with incidents in which large numbers of Palestinians were killed while attempting to access aid at its distribution points before those centres were later dismantled.

Palestinian observers say these economic measures form part of a broader strategy aimed at creating unbearable living conditions in Gaza, with the objective of encouraging what they describe as “soft displacement” after military means failed to achieve that outcome.

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