Hamas slashes food prices as Gaza residents struggle with poverty
Contradicting claims of famine in Gaza, Hamas lowered the prices of food, while residents said the problem was a lack of money to purchase the basics.
Palestinians from the refugee camp in Deir al-Balah prepare the meal for breaking the Ramadan fast (iftar) on the tenth day of the holy month for Muslims, during the 6th month of the Iron Swords War. Mar 20, 2024. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS
One man told The Press Service of Israel that despite the cost of sugar falling from 100 shekels ($26) to 10 shekels, it has yet to return to its pre-war price of three shekels. He explained that before October 7, “There was also work and we could buy. Today there is no work and the prices are higher than before. And so it is for all prices, not just sugar.”
He added, “In any case, we don’t have money to buy.”
A woman told TPS-IL, “Although the prices are cheap, the situation is difficult. Wherever we go, we find everything expensive and even if it is cheap we cannot buy. Let’s hope from Allah that it will return to the way it was before.”
For example, according to instructions from the Hamas-run Central Government Emergency Committee, one kilo of flour now costs 10 shekels ($2.68), down from 30 shekels ($8.05). The price of canned goods dropped in half from 10 shekels to five ($1.34). The prices went into effect on Monday.
The cost of other basic items, including sugar, rice, cooking oil, meat, prepared foods and more, was also reduced.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, Hamas lowered the prices because the terror group has lost significant control over aid being delivered.
The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) reported that as of Tuesday, 20,019 trucks have delivered 374,540 tons of humanitarian supplies to date since the beginning of the war. COGAT is a unit within the Israeli Defense Ministry that coordinates civilian issues in Judea, Samaria and Gaza between the government, military, international organisations and the Palestinian Authority.
Those deliveries included 12,357 trucks carrying 260,930 tons of food, and 1,433 trucks delivering 28,580 tons of water.
Meanwhile, in a filing presented to the Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday, the state said the number of trucks entering Gaza since October 7 is larger than the number of trucks crossing into the Strip before the war. The state was responding to a legal appeal filed by several human rights organisations.
The filing added that Israel has provided Gaza with more than 3.3 million cubic meters of water through pipelines. It noted that Israel also coordinated the establishment of two new water lines extending from Egypt with the involvement of the United Arab Emirates.
The passage of aid deliveries is controversial in Israel. Hamas frequently steals food, water and fuel deliveries once they arrive inside the Strip. Israeli authorities have sidelined UNRWA, the embattled UN Relief and Works Agency for distributing food, water, medicine and other supplies. The agency has been under fire amid revelations that many of its staff are members of Hamas, including several who participated in the October 7 attacks.
“Don’t feed Hamas” is a common chant at Israeli demonstrations against humanitarian aid deliveries, and the families of hostages have called on the government to leverage the aid for information, access and freedom of their captive loved ones.
At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.
