During the years of war in Gaza, the Israeli government did not hide its decision to impose the blockade of Franja to punish the population and imprison Hamas. At that time, only very small quantities of goods were allowed into the enclave. Some of these concerned humanitarian aid, which was also very limited. However, these were commercial type products and their control created a profitable business opportunity at the expense of the mayor’s self-importance.
Israel reactivated commercial shipments to Gaza at the end of 2023, after an initial total blockade. Since then, it has only granted the right to import goods to a small group of Palestinian companies. These, along with a major Egyptian company, created a profitable monopoly on the coordination, transportation and entry of commercial goods into the Franja, according to documents from the Palestinian government and the Gaza Chamber of Commerce.
Solo in the concept of coordination commissions, which did not exist before the war, Gaza traders harmed by this ploy, revealed by Egyptian media Mada Masrpaid until November 15 more than 1 billion dollars (around 850 million euros), according to a database from the Gazátí Chamber of Commerce consulted by EL PAÍS.
These high costs, which do not include additional imports in terms of transportation and purchase of products, have been passed on to consumers in Gaza. The result is a significant increase in prices, including of basic goods like food, and a sharp decline in purchasing power in the midst of a serious humanitarian crisis.
The monopoly on the importation of commercial goods into Gaza was established from the first months of the war. Initially, Israel granted the right to bring trade into Gaza to five Palestinian companies, according to a report from the Palestinian Authority government’s Ministry of Economy. The ministry, however, clarified that the companies elected in the country were “specialized in the import and marketing of basic products” and that their function was to coordinate with Israel “the transport and introduction of goods to other traders”.
“If I’m not one of these five, but I want to import sugar, rice or harina, I help one of them and ask them to get me a permit so that more trucks can enter Gaza, and for each truck I have to pay. That’s how it happens,” the president of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Ayed Abu Ramadan, told EL PAÍS. “Obviously, the five will monopolize the system and increase prices, and what’s more, they won’t be able to supply the entire market,” he laments.
The vast majority of commercial goods imported into Gaza arrived first from Egypt. The group that took charge of the logistics to carry out these expeditions to the border was Abnaa Sinai, the businessman Ibrahim al Argany, a very influential personality in northern Sinai, bordering Franja. Another company in the group, Hala, has facilitated the delivery of joints to Egypt starting in early 2024 in exchange for payments of several thousand dollars per person.
During this initial period, which lasted until mid-May 2024, when the Israeli army occupied and closed the Palestinian coast from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the five Palestinian companies charged Gaza traders a coordination fee of between $10,000 and $20,000 per truck for transporting goods. Abnaa Sinai charged approximately $1,000 in fees and charges and offered preferential treatment to gas importers in exchange for $9,000.
Following the Rafah raid and the presence of many Gazan businessmen, Israel moved the entry of goods into Gaza near Karam Abu Salem, under full Israeli control, and increased the number of import concessions.
Some humanitarian organizations that manage the delivery of aid to Gaza also have to pay companies operating under this monopoly. In 2024, the three largest UN agency contracts in Egypt were awarded to the Abnaa Sinai Group with a cumulative value of $42.4 million, according to a UN transparency portal.
Camouflaged Aid Merchants
The system changed again in October 2024, when Israel closed the import management platform with the private sector and limited the entry of goods into the humanitarian sector, with the exception of cooking gas. The flow of trade, however, did not completely stop and some basic necessities included in humanitarian aid were sold to the private sector, according to a report by the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce.
“International NGOs have someone who has access to an Israeli electronic system where they respond to their needs and what they want to bring, and Israel checks it. If someone wants to bring coffee and even chocolate and nuts, they contact an employee of some NGO and ask for it,” illustrates Abu Ramadan. “Hypothetically, Israel knew that it was not humanitarian aid. But why did they allow it to know that it was an exchange of money, which in reality was not there,” he adds.
It was during this period that payments under the coordination concept exploded. In the case of basic food products, it reached $27,000 per truck, and for hygiene products or clothing it reached $216,000, according to the database of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce. Between October 2024 and the heatwave of January 19, 2025, total coordination payments exceeded $430,000, distributed among just some 5,000 trucks.
From the start of the fire until Israel began imposing a total blockade on Gaza in March 2025, the number of daily trucks carrying humanitarian aid began to increase, but around 60% transported goods to the private sector. Those arriving from Egypt paid a flat fee of $20,000 per truck and those arriving from the West Bank, Jordan and Israel, between 16,000 and 27,000.
The fifth phase of this project began with the reopening of border crossings in May, just before the start of operation of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, an opaque organization through which Israel attempted to exercise even tighter control over aid. During this period, coordination costs ranged from $30,000 to $80,000 per truck.
Today, the entry of goods into Gaza continues to be restricted by Israel and there are fewer than 10 local traders enjoying concessions to import basic goods, which nevertheless imposes high coordination costs on the rest, according to a presentation shared with the country and exhibited this year at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), established by the United States in Israel as part of the wide-ranging deal with Hamas.
Abu Ramadan assures that there are no clear criteria on Israel’s part to select certain traders who will import products to Gaza. It says that in recent months, Israel began allowing the entry of certain sealed trucks with goods considered to have dual civilian and military use, such as cell phones, solar panels and tires, in exchange for coordination tasks worth more than two million dollars.
Israel, for its part, is taking advantage of the cut in humanitarian and commercial aid, and the period of clarity surrounding these shipments, to inflate its data on the flow of aid to Gaza, which represents a central element of the large-scale agreement. Currently, Israel says between 600 and 800 humanitarian trucks enter Franja every day. But when questioned by EL PAÍS, Israel’s Defense Ministry organization that controls border areas, COGAT, admits that this figure includes commercial shipments from the private sector. And unlike humanitarian aid, Palestinians have to pay for it.
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