Israel Stops Commercial Goods Entering Gaza for Two Days

Israel says commercial trucks into Gaza have stopped for two days. Gaza's truckers say the reason given is an excuse.

On Wednesday 15 October 2026, Israel's military body COGAT said no commercial goods had entered Gaza for two days. COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, is the Israeli office that controls what crosses into Gaza. It blamed a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas. The stop includes goods such as fruit and winter clothes. About 2.1 million people live in the Strip. They depend on what Israel allows through the crossings. A hunger monitor warned in July that more than two-thirds of people in Gaza could face acute hunger by the end of this year. Under a US-mediated agreement, Israel is supposed to let in at least 600 trucks of humanitarian aid a day. Diplomats say the real number is usually far lower.

Why it matters

Commercial trucks are private trade, not donated aid. Families use them for food and clothes that an aid parcel does not cover. Stopping them as winter starts takes fruit and warm clothing off the market. Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza's private truckers' union, said the flow is closer to 300 trucks a day, and that about two-thirds of those carry commercial goods rather than aid. He denied Israel's account. He said Israel is using fees charged by Gaza's Ministry of Economy as an excuse to stop the trucks. After the announcement, his union met the ministry to object. COGAT says the stop follows a Hamas tax. Sheheiber says the tax claim is a pretext and the decision is Israel's. People outside the crossing cannot see the paperwork. What both sides agree is that the trucks stopped, and that commercial goods had been most of what was getting in. Aid trucks and shop trucks are not the same thing. A family can receive a food parcel and still have no fruit, no shoes and no coat if the private market is shut.

Key facts

• COGAT said commercial goods had not entered Gaza for two days, citing a tax dispute with Hamas.

• The halt includes fruit and winter clothes, not only donated aid.

• The US-mediated deal calls for at least 600 aid trucks a day. Diplomats say far fewer usually enter.

• Truckers' leader Nahed Sheheiber said the real flow is closer to 300 trucks, about two-thirds of them commercial.

• A hunger monitor warned in July that more than two-thirds of Gaza's people could face acute hunger by year-end.

• Sheheiber said fees by Gaza's economy ministry are being used as an excuse. His union met the ministry to object.

What's next

The questions are simple and unanswered. Will commercial trucks start again, and on which day? Will the 600-aid-truck floor in the agreement be met even once? Winter does not wait for that argument. Families who were buying fruit and clothes on the private market now have neither the trucks nor a clear date for their return. The hunger warning runs to the end of the year. A two-day stop can become a longer one if neither side treats the crossing as a duty to civilians rather than a lever. COGAT and the truckers' union are describing the same closed gate in two ways. One calls it a tax dispute. The other calls it a pretext. Civilians cannot eat either explanation.