An Associated Press investigation has uncovered the vast extent of a smuggling network in Gaza, where goods banned by Israel are smuggled illegally through organized networks. Millions of dollars pass through the hands of traders, smugglers and others involved.
Palestinians are facing skyrocketing prices for food and batteries. Hospitals have been forced to turn to smugglers for medicine and medical equipment. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers and others involved in the network are accused of profiting millions of dollars from smuggling restricted goods from Israel into the Gaza Strip, according to an Associated Press investigation based on court documents and interviews with traders, truck drivers and officials.
Cigarettes and tobacco, banned from entering Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, bring in the biggest profits for smugglers and traders, according to officials and residents. But other products are also smuggled into Gaza, from iPhones and solar panels to fuel and anesthetics. Israel limits the quantity of some goods and bans others altogether. Many of them it classifies as “dual-use” products, including concrete, car parts and X-ray equipment. According to Israel, these products can be used by Hamas militants for military purposes. To build a picture of this illegal market, the AP analyzed Israeli court documents and interviewed five major traders who import smuggled goods, three traders who sell them and two truck drivers.
All asked to remain anonymous because of their involvement in smuggling and security concerns. The AP also interviewed four Palestinian officials, two of whom requested anonymity because of fear of reprisals from Israel, Hamas or the traders. Two U.N. officials also spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their jobs.
The AP also spoke to dozens of Palestinian residents, who described how they procure everyday goods and how much their prices have risen. The investigation found that all sides are trying to profit from the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on Gaza and its roughly two million residents. Most of the population has been displaced by the war. Smuggling networks, which have long existed to circumvent the Israeli blockade, have created a web of businessmen and collaborators. They generate millions of dollars. According to traders and court documents, some of the money is given to Israeli troops, drivers, warehouse workers and others on both sides of the border.
“The occupation has left us no other option. Smuggling has become routine,” said one trader. He added that some people in the Israeli army are willing to help, in exchange for money. “We benefit, they benefit and the people in Gaza benefit, because we bring goods, including food, to the market,” he said.
The Israeli military said in an email that it takes the issue of smuggling very seriously and is working to prevent it. It said any suspected involvement of military personnel is “investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law.” However, military officials did not respond to questions about the role of Israeli soldiers or the Gaza government in the activity. The Hamas-led Gaza government also profits from smuggling, according to traders and a Palestinian official. Traders call this “taxation,” which applies to both smuggled and legally imported goods. Mohammad Barbakh, of the Palestinian Ministry of Economy in Gaza, said the government takes up to 20 percent of the price of smuggled goods if the trader declares them to the authorities. If the goods are not declared and the authorities discover them, that percentage can reach up to 80 percent.
Barbakh said that the authorities do not call this part a “tax” and that they have not imposed taxes on goods entering legally since the beginning of the war.
HOW DO SMUGGLED GOODS ENTER GAZA?
Since the start of the war, Israel has tightly controlled the entry of food, humanitarian aid and goods into the Gaza Strip. Last year, a total aid blockade stopped their entry for almost three months, leaving parts of the territory facing famine. The flow of goods has increased since a fragile ceasefire agreement came into effect in October, but remains far below pre-war levels.
In addition to the UN and other humanitarian organizations delivering aid, Israel has granted 12 major traders in Gaza permits to import commercial goods. The contents of the shipments must be approved by Israeli authorities. Aid workers and traders say the process can be lengthy and opaque. In some cases, applications are rejected on the grounds that the goods could have “dual use.” The Israeli military classifies about 150 broad categories of products as “dual use” goods. The list includes concrete, asphalt, steel pipes and wooden planks, according to documents provided by COGAT, the military department that coordinates the entry of goods into Gaza. COGAT has said that in certain cases it has allowed some such products to enter, under strict monitoring. Some of the major traders turn to smuggling networks to meet demand in Gaza, while smaller traders try to sell these goods on the market.
Two traders and a truck driver said that in some cases government institutions require certain products to continue operating. Hospitals also turn to smugglers for medicines and medical equipment. Tribal elders also seek smuggled goods for their communities. Among them are the missing medicines, said a tribal leader.
Two large traders and a trader’s assistant said they send lists of goods they want to import to “coordinators.” These are Israeli and Palestinian intermediaries in Israel and the West Bank. The coordinators secure the goods and then organize how they will enter Gaza. Commercial goods and humanitarian aid pass mainly through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, south of Gaza. The Israeli military also has special routes for its vehicles to enter and exit Gaza. According to traders and Israeli court documents, smugglers use both routes. They bribe soldiers to facilitate the passage of the trucks or to transport the goods in military vehicles. Humanitarian trucks are also sometimes used for this purpose, although less frequently, according to traders and Israeli government statements.
SMUGGLING MAKES UP A LARGE PART OF GAZA’S ECONOMY
Smuggling has become essential to Gaza’s economy. It is a significant source of income at a time when most residents have lost their livelihoods, the tribal leader said. Some of the main traders estimate that smuggling accounts for more than half of their business and can generate over 70% of profits.
The money is paid to many people involved in the chain, including drivers and warehouse workers in Israel and Gaza, a trader said. All of these costs end up being passed on to consumers. Residents say a car battery can cost more than $2,300, compared to about $140 before the war. “Smuggling increased significantly in the second half of 2024, when the market started to empty,” said Mohamed Abu Taha, a Gaza resident and father of one. He said chicken, meat and other basic food products were smuggled into Gaza. “Baby milk and pet food were also smuggled,” he added.
But perhaps no product is more in demand than cigarettes and tobacco. According to residents, a pack of cigarettes recently reached $140. During Israel’s total blockade, the price had even exceeded $1,000. “You could find two or three men sharing a cigarette,” Abu Taha said. COGAT did not answer the question of why cigarettes are banned from entering Gaza. For smugglers, cigarettes and nicotine products are easy to hide and can bring in big profits.
HAMAS-LEAD GOVERNMENT PROFITS MONEY FROM SMUGGLING
The Gaza government mainly profits by taking a percentage of the price of smuggled goods. However, according to traders and the Economy Ministry official Barbakh, it does not directly deal with commercial smuggling nor does it oversee it. Two traders said that the government’s demands for payments have increased since the ceasefire agreement. Both said they were summoned by Hamas authorities over goods they had smuggled during the war.
A deal was reached between the parties. One of the merchants said he paid $3.5 million, while the other paid about $3.75 million. Two senior Hamas administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said the money is used to fund social services and the salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants and police. They said up to $100 million may have been collected from the smuggled goods since the ceasefire. Barbakh said the government did not have exact figures for the smuggled goods, as “these operations are carried out in secret, outside the supervision of the authorities.” In response, Ismail al-Thawabta, from the government’s media office, said that none of the money collected goes to Hamas’s military wing.
The government says it destroys any confiscated goods that have expired, including food products. However, the two senior officials, as well as two merchants and a truck driver, said Hamas sells confiscated cigarettes. Al-Thawabta did not respond to a question about this.
“HE IS ALMIGHTY”
The smugglers appear to have considerable influence. In court documents, Israeli prosecutors name a mysterious smuggler, known only as Abu Bassel. He has “extensive connections within the Israel Police,” they say. In one case described in the documents, Israeli police raided a warehouse in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. It contained cellphones and cigarettes that the smugglers were loading onto trucks to be sent to Gaza.
One of the smugglers called Abu Bassel and gave the phone to a police officer. After the conversation, the police called off the raid. The officers left without arresting anyone or seizing the goods, the document says. All of the people who spoke to the AP said Abu Bassel is the world’s biggest smuggling coordinator. However, they said they knew nothing about his identity, his real name, whether he is Israeli or from the Palestinian territories, or how he set up his network. “He is omnipotent,” said a senior official at the Gaza Chamber of Commerce. “Nothing can enter Gaza without his approval.” A Gazan merchant said he had spoken to Abu Bassel on the phone but declined to give the AP his number.
Since late 2025, Israeli authorities have cracked down on several suspected smuggling rings. Dozens of people have been charged, including reservists operating in Gaza. However, traders, vendors and truck drivers who spoke to the AP say they represent only a small fraction of those involved.
In one of the largest cases, prosecutors charged two Israeli brothers, Eliran and Avi Algarabli, their business partner Yaron Peretz, and another Israeli citizen with running a smuggling ring out of the city of Kiryat Gat. According to a series of indictments against them and others, they are accused of bribing reservists in Gaza. Among them was Bezalel Zini, the brother of the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s powerful internal security agency. Documents say Zini was a commander in a military engineering unit. According to the indictments, the ring paid him about $120 to smuggle three shipments of about 6 packs of cigarettes in his vehicle. Court documents show that the smuggling rings are worth millions of dollars.
The Algarabli brothers earned an estimated $2.2 million from several smuggling operations conducted between October and December, when they were arrested. Other individuals charged in similar cases are suspected of profiting between $1 million and $3 million. For Gazans, facing another summer with limited resources has become almost unbearable.
Ventilators that once cost about $100 can now sell for $500. “When we ask traders why they don’t bring ventilators, they say the Israeli army doesn’t allow them in because they are considered dual-use items,” said resident Mohamed Abu Olwan. Mohamed Abuel-Enein, a displaced man from the southern city of Rafah, said such a ban makes no sense. “I don’t see what harm there is in allowing ventilators through the border crossings,” he said. “What are they going to do with them? Will they build rockets? We can’t live in these tents. We use cardboard to make fires all day long or pour water on the children because of the heat.” (Associated Press)