July 4 – Mohammed, a trader in the Gaza Strip, has a hell of a time through his delivery job. I get screwed on every shipment, he told Reuters. He now has to spend $14,000 plus per truck of the food supplied in the besieged area, including transport costs, intermediaries’ extortion, and protection from looters. This is nearly double the $1,500-$4,000 he spent before the war started in October. 

 ‘It is barely worth my while. ’ ‘But I need food, my neighbours need food, the whole of Gaza needs food,’ Mohammed said. Although increasing the prices of the fresh foods on offer, such as dairy products, fruits, and chicken tenfold, makes it slightly out of reach for many starving Gazans, he has to do this to make his money back. 

 Mohammed and 17 Gaza traders plus 17 aid workers, Reuters, described how the system is disorganised and makes importing food either too risky or expensive. Some of the respondents preferred not to be named because they felt that they could jeopardise their lives by voicing their opinions regarding the phenomenon, which is controlled by local gangs or risk being blocked by the Israeli military. 

  Escalating Costs and Risks 

 A large chunk of the money goes to transportation costs in the form of trucking. Drivers in Israel have tripled their rates because recently, some Israeli protesters set trucks with supplies bound for Gaza on fire. Moreover, cargoes are anxious for days near departure points in the occupied West Bank or at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in expectation of a search by Israeli soldiers, which adds additional expenses. 

 Insofar as the goods get into Gazl, the most treacherous phase of their transit is still ahead. Importer Hamuda of pickled vegetables, poultry, and dairy goods from the West Bank stated that he has to either bribe local criminals or hire a bodyguard to escort his consignment. 

“It’s anywhere from $200 to $800 for this. It’s worth it for a cargo that can be worth up to $25,000,” Hamuda said, noting that he typically hires 3-5 guards per truck.

 North Gaza Cut Off from Commercial Goods

Despite Blend’s claim that all the products it sells are available in Gaza, none of the private-sector goods have entered northern Gaza, where humanitarian agencies report acute malnutrition, because the Israeli military has prohibited the entry of commercial goods to the area. Two Gar workers restated that only aid could be bought in the northern part of Gaza, with no commercial products being sold. 

 It is noteworthy that by the eve, no comment on the availability of food for sale in the north was received from the Israeli military. Still, the military, which regulates the delivery of aid to Gaza, affirms that it enables enough food to be supplied fneighbouringring Israel and Egypt for the entire population. The problems with humanitarian assistance were introduced as “challenges” which aid agencies encounter when implementing food delivery in Gaza; however, it failed to indicate what precisely the respondents refer to when using the term ‘challenges’. 

 Bureaucratic and Violent Hurdles 

 Gaza Strip has one and a half million pe, people and since the start of the war on October 7, the biggest challenge has been to supply food. Bureaucratic and violent issues have challenged a total of 3 million displaced people. Commercial imports of food, therefore, consist primarily of fresh produce, while food aid is in the form of canned goods and other preserved foodstuffs. Nevertheless, the Israeli military let commercial food delivery go on in May after an attack on Rafah sharply cut the flow of supplies from the UN. 

 Those inevitable muggings have increased since the Rafah attack. This has brought about new layers of confusion to the people of Gaza, thereby increasing the existing analysis, expert and trader’s view that this campaign has escalated confusion in Gaza as seen from the displacement of 1. Previously, 5 million people had been living ing internally displaced person camps. Still, goods originating from the UN are getting into Gaz, but these are easy targets for the criminal gangs because the UN agencies cannot afford to hire protection. 

Bribes and Protection Rackets 

 After these food cargoes enter the Gaza Strip, they are translated into local trucks for delivery. The roads in Rafah and Khan Younis, which were secure in the past, are today lethally dangerous. Some trucks, because they are specifically carrying perishable goods such as meat or fresh fruits, may be attacked, while other trucks with gangs smuggle contraband goods in food delivery trucks. 

 Additional challenges are created by constant operations, such as traders being unable to rush to military personnel and discuss their trucks’ situation in Gaza. Whereby roads are closed down because of a fight or barrage, the drivers do not get the knowleofe on other suitable roads. 

 Outsourcing: Some Gazan traders now hire bigger and more influential businessmen to broker and protect their shipments, which can sometimes cost them as much as $14,000 a consignment. 

Dire Straits for Gazan Traders 

 As it may be observed, one of the traders gave the impression of the situation’s prevailing vulnerability when he was asked, ‘How do you feel about the erosion happening here?’ “After raising my prices to cater for transport costs, I earn a couple of hundred dollars; maybe I earn my back,” he said. I also stand to lose everything. If the consignment is raided, then the money was spent for nothing. 

 However, these traders endure these difficulties, striving for the need to feed their communities given the conflict situation that is still going on.