Families in Gaza have begun hoarding food for fear of imminent shortages, reporting sharp price rises since Wednesday, when Israel said commercial goods would no longer enter the enclave.
Ismail al-Barawi, 52, from Jabalia in northern Gaza, said a carton of 30 eggs that cost 35 shekels ($11.34) before the closure was now selling for 60 to 70 shekels ($18 to $21). A kilogramme of onions had risen from five or six shekels ($1.50 to $1.80) to between eight and 10 shekels ($2.40 to $3), and avocados from seven or eight shekels to about 15 shekels ($4.50).
"These increases happened in just two or three days," he said, warning that a 50 kg sack of flour could reach 200 or even 300 shekels ($60 to $90) if the crossings stay closed for 10 to 15 days. Al-Barawi, who provides food for an extended family of about 11 or 12 people, has been forced to buy smaller quantities, such as four or five eggs instead of a full carton. He also accused traders of raising prices as soon as they hear the crossings may remain closed. "Today, everyone is trading at the expense of the people. There is no mercy," he said.
Stockpiling has limits: fresh vegetables spoil within days and unreliable electricity makes storing meat difficult, he noted, while many families simply have no money to spare.
Gaza's Government Media Office on Thursday rejected Israel's explanation for the suspension, denying that authorities in the territory had imposed taxes or government fees on commercial trucks. It said the 10,000-shekel ($3,242) amount cited by Israel was linked to a voluntary community fund for vulnerable families, and that a 30 percent cash-transaction rate had been introduced with the Chamber of Commerce to address a shortage of cash liquidity. The office accused Israel of using the dispute to impose further restrictions on supplies and called on mediators to push for the entry of 600 trucks a day, in line with existing agreements.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that food prices in Gaza in September 2026 averaged 204 percent above pre-October 2023 levels. Iman Atallah, a 50-year-old displaced woman in Beit Lahiya, said the price of a sack of flour had risen from 25 to 35 shekels ($7.50 to $10.50) before the closure to about 80 shekels ($24). Her family now relies on rice and lentils and has given up eggs, sometimes skipping breakfast or dinner. "We cannot stock up because we have no income," she said. "Those who have money will stock up, while those who do not will just have to watch."