Israel has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza since March, leaving 2.2 million Palestinians in the enclave with practically nothing. Food, medicine and water are extremely scarce, with aid only trickling in every now and then. There is barely anything to buy in the market.
But at the heart of all this is another crisis: cash. Many banks have closed because of the war. ATMs have been destroyed. No new notes have been injected into Gaza since 2023, with Israel suspending the Palestinian Monetary Authority from making cash transfers to the enclave. The same old banknotes have been circulating, becoming so worn that even vendors are rejecting them.
Instead, informal cash merchants are selling people physical banknotes in exchange for digital transfers, but with commission fees of about 50 per cent.
Meanwhile, the cost of even the most basic food staples, such as flour and sugar, has risen to extortionate levels, further depleting the value of the currency.
In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at the extreme difficulties of accessing money in the enclave and the compounded suffering caused by the shortage of cash.
