Hamas raises taxes in impoverished Gaza, sparking protests

Gaza’s Hamas rulers imposed a slew of new taxes on imported goods ahead of the upcoming school year, sparking rare protests in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

The move by the militant group came at a time when Gaza’s 2.3 million people are suffering not only from a 15-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade, but also from a global price hike in commodities caused by the war in Ukraine.

“This is a wrong, oppressive decision that destroys the national economy,” said Gazan merchant Nahid al-Sawada, who imports clothes from China and Turkey, The Washington Post (the Post) reported.

A list by Gaza’s Economy Ministry included planned taxes on items including but not limited to jeans, plastic folders, and packaged nuts, with an import tariff of nearly $600 per ton. Previously, nuts were imported tax-free.

Taxes on toilet paper also rose from $90 to $580, set to take effect on August 1.

Emad Abdelhadi, a representative for Gaza’s union of clothes merchants, said the new tax will pose an unfair burden on struggling consumers, the Post reported.

The economy in Gaza – which is already suffering from rampant poverty and an unemployment rate of close to 50 percent – has been hit hard by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007. 

Hamas authorities say the new taxes are meant to protect Gaza’s local industries. But experts and businesspeople challenge this argument since much-needed raw materials are now being taxed.

Protests against Hamas are rare, but earlier this month, some two dozen members of the clothes merchants’ union expressed their frustration in public, before being peacefully dispersed.