GAZA, (PIC)
The markets of the Gaza Strip live in a state of continuous turmoil as a result of an undeclared policy based on entering certain goods and preventing others alternately, in light of Israel’s control over the crossings and the movement of goods, which creates a permanent state of instability in the availability of basic products, and pushes the residents into a continuous living state of emergency.
Data issued by the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza show that Israel does not commit to entering the assumed quantities of daily trucks, which are supposed to reach about 600 trucks of aid and goods and 50 trucks of fuel daily, reflecting a large gap between actual needs and what enters the Strip.
The Office documented the reduction of entering food supplies in some cases from dozens of trucks daily to limited numbers, which directly affected the work of relief institutions and weakened the market’s ability to stabilize.
In the same context, international reports issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicate that closing the crossings or reducing their operation leads to “doubling the pressures on the population and deepening the humanitarian crisis,” with repeated calls to ensure the flow of aid without obstacles.
Deliberate confusion and repeated crisis
Specialists and traders who spoke to the PIC correspondent believe that the pattern of entering goods intermittently and irregularly creates a state of “systematic confusion” for the markets, where basic goods disappear for short periods and then return, in a repeated cycle that prevents price stability and makes the consumer in a state of permanent pursuit of the commodity.
The GMO confirms that the restrictions imposed on the crossings represent a “fundamental reason for the humanitarian crisis,” in light of the continued reduction of supplies and the imposition of restrictions on their sources, leading to the disruption of supply chains and raising the cost for citizens.
In a tour inside the markets, the shelves of some stores appear temporarily full of certain goods, while others are suddenly absent, and one of the traders says, “The commodity enters for a short period, after that it disappears, and we are forced to bring alternatives of lower quality or higher price, this in the case that an alternative is available.”
He confirms in a conversation with the PIC correspondent that this pattern reflects directly on prices, as they rise immediately upon the scarcity of the commodity, then decrease when new quantities enter, which creates a state of continuous instability.
Abu Muhammad, who is the owner of a food stall in the market of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, believes that Israel adopts a policy of “starving the market” of some goods alternately, so that it cuts off a commodity and enters another and vice-versa, which makes buyers in a state of constant search for goods and permanent necessity to store above the actual need, which causes a continuous and repeated crisis.
Um Ali, who is a mother of five children, says, “We do not know when the goods will disappear, and when we will find them. So, we buy a larger quantity, because they might not be available again soon.”
As for the young man Ahmed, 28, he describes the shopping experience as “exhausting”, and adds, “We have started going down to the market to see what is available, not what we want. Every day the situation is different.”
With a sarcastic laugh, he told the PIC correspondent, “The absence of stability and the change of available goods and food materials, made us change our way of eating, we cook according to what is available, not according to need and desire.”
Distortions and permanent anticipation
Economic observers confirm that this policy leads to clear distortions in the market, where prices rise unstably, and purchasing power declines, while traders are unable to plan or maintain a steady stock.
They believe that the restrictions on the crossings do not only affect food commodities, but extend to fuel, raw materials, and spare parts, which reflects on various vital sectors and increases the fragility of the economic situation, and puts the residents of Gaza in a state of permanent anticipation, where shopping turns into a complex process based on expecting shortages and pre-storage.
With the continuation of this policy, the markets remain in a state of “permanent alert”, while the residents continue to adapt to a changing reality that imposes itself on the details of their daily lives, amidst official and international warnings of the aggravation of the humanitarian crisis if the restrictions remain as they are.