Emma Graham-Harrison & Julian Borger
The Guardian / January 1, 2026
Sources say generators and tent poles restricted from humanitarian bodies but commercial shipments allowed in.
Jerusalem – Israel is running a parallel system of controls for shipments into Gaza, allowing commercial traders to bring goods into the territory that are barred for humanitarian organisations.
Basic life-saving supplies including generators and tent poles are on a long Israeli blacklist of “dual-use” items. The Israeli government says entry of these items must be severely restricted because they could be exploited by Hamas or other armed groups for military ends.
However, for at least a month, Israeli authorities have allowed businesses to transport multiple dual-use items into Gaza, including generators and metal pallets, which are more durable in winter rains and mud than wooden alternatives.
These are now on sale in the open market in Gaza, according to military, diplomatic and humanitarian sources. They must pass through the same three tightly controlled Israeli checkpoints that currently bar shipments of these goods for aid organisations.
“It seems highly improbable that the Israelis don’t know about them,” said one diplomatic source. “It’s very shocking that these things are able to enter through commercial channels.”
The disparity limits the work of humanitarian organisations supporting Palestinians at a time of desperate need, while providing lucrative opportunities to commercial traders who can secure import permits from Israeli authorities.
The American commander of a new US base in southern Israel has been briefed on such dual-use restrictions. Lt Gen Patrick Frank has discussed the controls with diplomats and humanitarians at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), which was established in October to monitor the Donald Trump-brokered ceasefire and plan for Gaza’s future. His views on the matter are not known.
Israel has a long track record of exploiting access to Gaza to further its political goals, said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that has been monitoring controls for 20 years.
“On the surface the private sector [shipments of items on the dual-use list] can appear to be very confusing and an inconsistency,” she said. “But I see it as very consistent with their policy of trying to strengthen the hand of certain actors and weaken the hand of others.”
Entry controls on items such as generators did not reflect “the inherent risk or danger of the item itself”, she said. “It’s a question of: whose hands is it in? Where is it? How is it being used?”
Israeli restrictions have long made trade into Gaza particularly lucrative for those Palestinians and Israelis who can secure permits. Items on the dual-use list now sell for huge premiums inside Gaza.
“The only way to get a generator right now is on the private sector,” said Sam Rose, acting director for Gaza for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. “There’s a mark-up on that.”
“My understanding is that it is the business interests on all sides – Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian – with some of the security companies that enjoy Israeli protection also taking a cut alongside other criminal elements, all in all supporting the growth of an illegal economy,” Rose added. “What’s not clear to me is whether Hamas is getting a cut. I would assume so but have not seen any confirmation of this.”
Ahmed Alkhatib, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that when it came to commercial deliveries into Gaza, “You’re not just paying fees and taxes to Hamas in Gaza, you’re paying fees and taxes to merchants on the Israeli side. We all know that Gaza was and will always be a massive market for the Israeli economy.”
Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry unit that controls access to Gaza, denied “preventing or delaying” aid shipments into Gaza or applying looser restrictions for commercial traders.
“The policy governing the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip is approved by the political echelon in Israel and implemented by Cogat in a uniform manner vis-a-vis the UN, international organisations, donor countries, and the private sector,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
For dual-use items, Israel “offers international organisations alternatives that allow and facilitate a humanitarian response”, the statement said, without providing any details. Spokesperson Shimi Zuaretz also said medical aid organisations had been given permits to bring generators into Gaza “over the last month”.
The Israeli military referred questions about aid shipments into Gaza to Cogat. The US military declined to comment.
The shipment controls are the latest instance of Israel weaponizing aid for political and military goals in Gaza. Over the summer Israel caused a famine in parts of the territory by blocking food shipments for weeks, then allowing only a trickle of aid to enter, killing hundreds of people.
Israel this week told 37 NGOs active in Gaza they would have to cease all operations within 60 days, unless they hand over detailed information on their Palestinian staff.
Diplomats and humanitarian officials have said that stopping the work of the NGOs listed would have catastrophic consequences and put Palestinian lives at risk.
“The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form,” the EU humanitarian chief, Hadja Lahbib, posted on social media. “IHL [international humanitarian law] leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need.”
“The reality is that the commercial sector can bring in what it wants [now],” said Rose. “Items not approved for humanitarian organisations, such as generators, are available commercially. So we have a two-tier system, which is undermining the UN-led system, which Israel is required to support as per international law.”
US forces deployed to the CMCC arrived in October prepared to launch a major logistics effort to get aid supplies into Gaza.
They were surprised and confused to find the biggest challenge was political, and began clashing with Israeli counterparts over some of the restrictions almost immediately, said multiple sources briefed on meetings at the base.
An early confrontation was over tent poles. Shelter is a critical need as winter sets in because Israeli attacks have destroyed nine out of 10 Palestinian homes, but Israel deems metal tent poles needed for sturdy winter-proof tents “dual use”.
US officers at the CMCC rapidly drew up a list of at least a dozen key humanitarian items they wanted removed from the dual-use list, with tent poles near the top. Weeks later Israel has not lifted restrictions on any of them.
“It is clearly not security interests that are driving decision-making here,” said one western source. “The dual-use list is just another way to control what enters Gaza.”
Restrictions on the type and quantity of goods allowed into Gaza long preceded the current war. Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the territory in 2005 but maintained effective control of the borders and used that to impose a blockade.
“It has always been a form of control over the wellbeing of the population,” said the Gisha director, Hary. “Whether that’s the bare minimum of humanitarian standards we are looking at now, or in previous years in terms of economic life, construction, industry, development in technology and agriculture and innovation.”
The dual-use list, which requires a security assessment and permits to import items to Gaza, has been a particular concern since it was introduced.
It is sweeping in its scope, secret until an item is rejected and has been imposed arbitrarily. Older versions obtained by Gisha through legal action include categories such as “communications equipment” – so broad it could cover most modern electronics.
Items barred on dual-use grounds over the last two years include solar panels, smoke detectors, crutches, wheelchairs and walkers.
Aid groups have collaborated to compile an unofficial list of rejected items in an effort to limit the amount of time and money spent applying to import things that are unlikely to get approval. But it is time consuming.
International pressure on Israel over the dual-use list has also flagged over the last two years, and even with the creation of the CMCC.
Diplomats are concerned about spiralling violence in the West Bank and uncertainty about long-term plans for Gaza’s reconstruction, as aid groups are negotiating possible de-registration by Israel.
The dual-use list is not the only bureaucratic obstacle limiting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Some items are banned because Israel has decided they don’t address urgent humanitarian needs.
This category includes paper and pencils to restart schools after two years without education for 600,000 children, and frozen beef and mutton to feed a malnourished population. Aid organisations have been limited to chicken while commercial traders have been able to bring in all kinds of meat.
The limited number of crossings into Gaza and their hours of operation, as well as delays approving routes for convoys inside the territory – which is vital to ensuring they do not come under Israeli attack – all serve to slow the entry of vital supplies.
Overall flows of aid into Gaza are well below levels agreed under the ceasefire, data provided by the Israeli military and analysed by the Associated Press showed.
Food shipments have increased enough to stave off famine, but hunger is still widespread, UN-backed food security experts said last week. About 1.6 million people were expected to face “crisis” levels of hunger in the next four months and if the ceasefire broke down, the territory could slip back into famine.
Winter weather and lack of shelter are exacerbating the impact of long-term malnutrition, particularly on young children. At least three have been killed by hypothermia this month, the UN said.
Emma Graham-Harrison is The Guardian’s chief Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem
Julian Borger is The Guardian’s senior international correspondent based in London
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Israel permitting Gaza traders to import goods, bypassing aid groups and deepening inequality
TNA Staff
The New Arab / January 2, 2026
Israel is allowing traders in Gaza to import goods which it has prohibited to aid groups, creating monopolies and deepening inequality
The Israeli army has pursued a discriminatory policy in allowing goods to enter the Gaza Strip by permitting local traders to import supplies while stopping aid groups from doing the same, a report by The Guardian has said.
This has created a parallel system of oversight outside the official humanitarian framework, as the population of Gaza suffers from poverty, malnutrition, and cold as a result of Israel’s genocidal war and ongoing siege.
Under an October ceasefire deal, aid was supposed to enter Gaza in quantities sufficient to the meet the needs of its over 2 million inhabitants, nearly all of whom have been displaced.
But Israel has continued to obstruct the entry of humanitarian relief, with reports that it has allowed only some traders to import goods, creating monopolies and entrenching inequality in the territory.
According to The Guardian, Israel places a wide range of essential, life-saving items on a lengthy list of prohibited goods, including electricity generators and metal tent poles.
The Israeli government justifies these restrictions by claiming that such supplies could be used by Hamas or other Palestinian armed factions in Gaza.
But despite Israel’s justifications that these supplies could be redirected to Hamas or other groups, traders in Gaza have still been allowed to import these same goods, suggesting an alternative network where these essentials are falling into the hands of a select few.
The Guardian reported that for at least a month, traders have been allowed to import a number of these same materials – including electricity generators and metal platforms that are more resilient in harsh winter conditions than wooden ones – through commercial channels.
According to military, diplomatic, and humanitarian sources, these materials have become available for sale in markets inside Gaza after passing through three heavily monitored Israeli checkpoints – the same crossings through which humanitarian organisations are barred from bringing such items.
A diplomatic source told The Guardian that it is hard to believe that Israeli authorities are unaware that these items exist inside Gaza, describing the decision to allow their entry through commercial channels as shocking, given the restrictions imposed on humanitarian work.
The newspaper reported that US officials compiled a list of at least a dozen essential humanitarian items they called for to be removed from the banned list, with tent poles topping the list.
Despite this request, Israel has not lifted the ban.
These restrictions have been highly profitable for both Israeli and Palestinian traders over the years, with goods being sold at extremely high prices inside Gaza.
Harsh winter conditions have battered tent cities for the displaced in recent weeks and resulted in the deaths of at least 17 Palestinians, including infants.
More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal, two-year war on Gaza. At least 418 were killed after the ceasefire, which Israel violates on a near-daily basis, began 12 weeks ago.
Reopening Rafah crossing
Major land crossings into the Gaza Strip remain closed for the entry of aid, in particular the Rafah crossing with Egypt. The border point has only been open to allow Palestinians to exit Gaza, stoking fears of permanent displacement.
But Israeli media reports said earlier this week that Israel is preparing to reopen the Rafah crossing in both directions after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns from a visit to the US, where he met with President Donald Trump.
Israel’s Kan 11 news reported on Wednesday that the expected decision comes as a result of pressure from Trump.
The broadcaster said discussions about reopening the crossing in both directions had been held before Netanyahu met with Trump in the US, but the move was postponed.
The announcement about reopening the border point could take place in the coming days, Kan quoted an unnamed US source as saying.
