Israel allows vendors to sell fresh food in Gaza for the first time since Oct. 7

The Israeli military has reopened a key source for food for the Gaza Strip — allowing fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy goods from Israel and the West Bank to be sold in the Palestinian territory for the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks.

The move, delivery of international aid, officials said.

“Israel phoned Gazan distributors who had been purchasing goods from the West Bank and Israel before the war,” Ayed Abu Ramadan, chair of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters.

“It told them it was ready to coordinate the pick-up of goods.”

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Food trade between Gaza and Israel was halted following Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7.

The Gaza Strip relied on imports from and through Israel for nearly all of its supply of food, medicine, fuel and electricity before the war.

Israel has blocked much of the flow of goods to the Gaza Strip in an effort to deprive Hamas terrorists of supplies they used to attack Israel.

But, that stoppage — along with Israel’s military offensive has caused a humanitarian crisis threatening famine to more than one million Palestinians, humanitarian officials warned.

The situation has only been exacerbated by Israel’s decision to move into Rafah, southern Gaza’s most populous city and the final stronghold of Hamas.

The new offensive effectively cut off the flow of UN aid deliveries to the city.

Even before the Rafah offensive, humanitarian aid workers had urged Israel to resume commercial trade with Gazan vendors to allow more non-perishables, like four and tinned food, to reach civilians.

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COGAT, the Israeli military branch in charge of aid transfers, said the decision to restart food sales would help curb starvation in Gaza as the army works to secure more humanitarian aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave.

“Allowing for the private sector to bring some food into the Gaza Strip is part of those efforts to increase the amount of food that’s coming in,” COGAT spokesperson Shimon Freedman said.

Under the renewed system, both suppliers and goods have to be vetted by the IDF, according to Wassim Al-Jaabari, head of the West Bank food and industry union.

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Palestinian officials noted that neither free goods or donations are allowed in from Israel or the West Bank — only food for sale.

The goods are then again inspected by the Israeli military once they reach the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

It remains unclear how much the food sellers are charging to bring their products into Gaza, or how much it will cost civillians to buy.

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With Egypt refusing to reopen its side of the Rafah Crossing after Israel took control of it, the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel remains the main passage for aid, but the deliveries have been inconsistent, Palestinian officials say.

Anywhere between 20 to 150 trucks, each carrying about 20 tons of food, enter Gaza every day, with the amount ultimately dependent on how much Israel allows, the officials added.

The deliveries are well short of the 600 trucks per day recommended by the U.S. Agency for International Development to stave off the threat of famine looming over Gaza.

The UN noted that prior to the war, an average of 500 aid and commercial trucks would deliver goods, farming supplies and medical necessities to Gaza every day.

With Post wires