Hamas Enforces Price Control in Gaza Amid Israeli Blockade

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Hatem Khaled

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Israel's block on deliveries into the war-stricken Gaza Strip has led to price increases and fears of food shortages, prompting punitive measures from the Hamas-run authorities against merchants, according to Hamas sources and witnesses.

Members of the Hamas-run police force were deployed in local markets across Gaza, asserting their presence on the ground despite a 15-month Israeli aerial and ground offensive against the Palestinian militant group.

They questioned and detained merchants, ordering them not to raise prices during a standoff over a ceasefire deal, and seized supplies that were later resold at lower prices, the four sources and witnesses said.

Local authorities also urged residents to report misconduct by merchants, saying that food supplies in Gaza would last just two weeks.

"Punishing junior sellers in markets is good, but Hamas must act against the big merchants who control what we eat," said one witness, asking not to be named for fear of retribution.

Israel announced on Sunday that it was stopping the entry of goods into Gaza, citing a dispute with Hamas over how to proceed with the phased, U.S.-backed ceasefire that brought a halt to heavy fighting in January.

Hamas has urged mediators to pressure Israel to begin talks on the second stage and reopen Gaza's crossings.

Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Hamas had been using aid to continue fighting Israel. Israel says Gaza has enough food for many months.

Humanitarian agencies, however, say supplies for food, medicine and shelter in Gaza are limited and that stranded aid might spoil.

RAMADAN MEALS

Philippe Lazzarini, head of U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, said Israel's suspension of deliveries threatened lives among Gaza's 2.3 million population, exhausted by war.

"Aid and these basic services are nonnegotiable. They must never be used as weapons of war," Lazzarini said in a post on X.

At a soup kitchen in Gaza's Khan Younis, where dozens of children holding pots lined up to receive soup, organizers said the suspension of deliveries would hit their provision of free meals for 20,000 people.

The meals were meant to cover the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday. But merchants had raised meat prices, meaning the menu had to change.

"The kitchen's administration prepared a plan for the month of Ramadan, but the closure of the crossings has disrupted all the plans," said one of the organizers, Abu Omar.

"On the first day of Ramadan, we served approximately 1,200 to 1,400 portions of meat and rice, but the closure of the crossings and the disappearance of goods in the markets led to us serving 'mujadara' (a rice and lentil dish) and soups today," Abu Omar told Reuters.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and displaced most of the population.

Arab states met in Cairo on Tuesday to try to advance a longer-term plan for Gaza that would counter U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for a Middle East Riviera in the territory.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Hatem Khaled in Gaza; Editing by Aidan Lewis)