Commercial imports into Gaza were suspended, Israel said, a move it credited to a request from Gaza merchants. Palestinian groups say the decision rests solely with the Jewish state.
Israel’s humanitarian Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced the suspension on Wednesday, claiming that Gaza merchants had requested as much due to Hamas taxing their trucks and extorting them. Gaza’s private truckers union, Nahed Sheheiber, denied this, claiming that it was Israel that made the decision unilaterally without a request from Gaza merchants.
“The merchants are not the ones who stopped the shipments,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “The Israeli coordinator is claiming that Gaza’s merchants are responsible, but the truth is that the Israelis are the ones who imposed the restrictions.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to COGAT for comment and clarification.
Though Sheheiber denied that Gaza merchants made a request to Israel, his union met with Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Economy to voice concerns about its sizable fees, saying that Israel was using them as a pretext to cut off trade. Sheheiber told the Associated Press that the ministry told merchants to pay 10,000 shekels (about $3,226) per truck entering Gaza, which it framed not as a tax but a donation to help pay civil servants in Gaza.
COGAT informed Board of Peace Director Nickolay Mladenov in a letter. In a statement on X, Mladenov said any threats or coercion of merchants from Hamas was “unacceptable and must end immediately,” as it would only “deepen the suffering of Gaza’s civilians.”
“These developments demonstrate why the rapid deployment of the [National Committee for the Administration of Gaza], supported by the International Stabilization Force (ISF), is urgently needed,” he said. “Civilian supplies, humanitarian assistance and commercial activity must be protected from coercion, exploitation and interference.”
The suspension of commercial trade threatens to roll back the progress made in the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which had reached a critical point in the summer of 2025. The Trump-brokered ceasefire in October 2025 allowed the importation of much-needed food and medical supplies, sending the enclave back from the brink of famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared a famine in Gaza in August 2025, though the Israeli government heavily disputed this.
While much of Gaza’s needs are currently met through foreign assistance, aid groups believe the current level of support cannot sustain the whole population.
AFTER TRUMP BROUGHT HIM HOME, AN OCT. 7 HOSTAGE FAMILY MEMBER TELLS HIS STORY
“The humanitarian sector on its own cannot meet the needs of all the people,” Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the Associated Press. “The markets need to be functioning.”
Israel and Hamas remained largely deadlocked, with the peace deal still stuck in its second phase.