Israel says Gaza commercial goods halted as Hamas denies tax claims

No commercial goods had entered Gaza for two days as of October 15, Israeli authorities said.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, announced the halt to commercial shipments on October 14. The body said local merchants had stopped bringing goods into the territory. It attributed that pause to fees it said were imposed by Hamas. Al Jazeera

COGAT put the truck charge at 10,000 shekels ($3,220) for each truck entering Gaza. It said Hamas demanded that 30 percent of all sales in Gaza be carried out in cash.

Gaza's government media office rejected those accounts on October 15. It condemned them as a "blatant disinformation campaign and false statement".

The office said the truck payment was voluntary. It described the money as a contribution to a fund that provides aid for those in need, such as widows and orphans. It said cash payments were encouraged because of an acute cash shortage but were never a mandatory requirement.

The shipments now on hold include fruit and winter clothing. COGAT data cited in the reporting distinguishes between supply channels, with aid groups bringing in staples such as flour, while merchants import more perishable foods like fruits and meat. Al Jazeera

Hamas addressed the dispute in a letter to mediators Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye. In that letter, it said it categorically denied imposing the alleged taxes, rejecting the Israeli accounts of the dispute. Asharq Al-Awsat

Each side has thus described the payments at the center of the halt in sharply different terms, with COGAT presenting them as mandatory Hamas-imposed fees and Gaza authorities presenting them as voluntary support encouraged by difficult cash conditions.