Israel announces halt to goods imports into Gaza Strip — RMF24

Israel has announced a halt to the import of commercial goods into the Gaza Strip. This immediately restricts supplies to a territory that is almost entirely dependent on goods whose transport across the border is permitted by Israel. RMF24 reports, citing the Associated Press.

Positions of COGAT and carriers

The halt to commercial deliveries was announced by COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, its statement does not make clear whether this body itself made the relevant decision.

COGAT said it was conveying the decision of local traders, who, according to its version, are dissatisfied with taxes on trucks and threats from Hamas. The head of the truck drivers’ union in the Gaza Strip, Naged Shegaiber, disputed this and said that Israel made the decision.

According to Shegaiber, the Israeli side cites payments collected by Gaza’s Ministry of Economy as a pretext for halting commercial deliveries. He said the ministry demanded 10,000 shekels, or about $3,226, from traders for every truck entering the Gaza Strip.

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The issue of humanitarian deliveries

A ministry representative, Khaled Al-Rakab, told the union that this payment is not a tax but a voluntary contribution that the ministry requests to help pay public employees in the territory.

COGAT’s statement also does not make clear whether humanitarian organizations will be allowed to increase delivery volumes to compensate for the loss of commercial goods. Humanitarian organizations warned of the risk of rising prices and stressed that both humanitarian aid and a functioning commercial market are needed to contain them.

The Associated Press notes that food security in the Gaza Strip improved at the beginning of the year after famine was declared in August 2025, but the situation still remains at a crisis level.