Commercial cargo entry into the Gaza Strip has ground to a complete halt for two consecutive days, according to claims made by COGAT, a military arm of the Israeli regime. The entity alleged that the standstill stems from an internal dispute between local merchants and Hamas over a supposed fee of 10,000 shekels per truck and a demand for cash transactions, effectively seeking to deflect responsibility for the disruption.

Gaza’s government media office promptly dismissed the assertions, condemning them as a blatant campaign of disinformation designed to pin the blame for the border paralysis on local authorities. Officials clarified that any financial contributions were strictly voluntary funds intended for orphans and widows, while cash transactions were merely encouraged due to acute currency shortages caused by the relentless blockade.

The private truckers union in Gaza vehemently contradicted the narrative propagated by the Israeli regime. Nahed Sheheiber, head of the union, emphasized that local merchants did not halt operations voluntarily, but rather that the Israeli regime itself orchestrated the cut-off using administrative pretexts to impede the regular flow of goods.

The cessation of commercial deliveries—ranging from fresh produce and meat to essential winter apparel—inflicts another blow on over 2.1 million Palestinians facing catastrophic famine. Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that institutional relief alone is insufficient to sustain the population without active and accessible private commercial markets.

While commitments brokered by the US regime purportedly mandate the daily entry of at least 600 aid and supply trucks, actual numbers routinely fall severely short, highlighting the persistent failure to alleviate the profound humanitarian catastrophe engulfing the enclave.

Source: www.aljazeera.com