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A Tour Through the Markets of Gaza's Companions

It is extremely difficult to write about or discuss the reality of Gaza unless you have lived through the conditions, experiences, and daily life of its people. Despite the abundance of social media and connections that may paint a picture of the situation there, one still cannot comprehend how people have managed to survive amidst all these forms of death. It has been 670 days of continuous death, and simply thinking deeply about it without suffering psychological damage would be considered a stroke of luck

Just browsing through the prices of goods and services in Gaza’s markets on social media leads to a striking question: Is this the same Gaza we once knew, with its people's simple way of life? The same Gaza where families never bought in small quantities, but rather in bulk? The Gaza that used to export surplus vegetables to the West Bank, driving prices down by half

But nothing remains the same under the rule of those who toy with life

Apologies, but allow me to offer you a glimpse into the nausea-inducing reality of what things have become. A Gaza citizen might receive a financial aid of 1,000 shekels with great difficulty, only to collect 450 shekels in cash after deductions from local intermediaries. It is shocking and outrageous that the prices of basic goods can soar to over twenty times their normal value. These astronomical prices apply to rare commodities that often don't meet basic human consumption standards and are displayed without the slightest regard for public health on what remains of Gaza’s sidewalks and streets

In a place where life and production have all but stopped, and where most people have little to no income, even a small portion of survival support is preyed upon by profiteers who deduct more than half of it. To put it simply, a head of household with six members needs about 150 shekels (approximately $40) to provide one daily meal—at the very minimum

You wonder how people manage their daily lives, and you hear the most surreal answers—more like a "Believe it or not" tale. The majority of essential goods on sale on sidewalks originally entered Gaza as free humanitarian aid, now being sold at outrageous prices to the very people they were intended for. How they reached the vendors? That’s where the infernal cycle begins—ranging from individual looting to organized theft, leading to gangs that have completely abandoned all ethical and national values

It might be understandable for a starving man to climb onto a truck to grab a food parcel for his hungry family. But to loot hundreds of aid packages alongside others and resell them on the street, depriving hundreds of families of aid—that is something entirely different. Worse still is when this is done in collaboration with organized gangs for the benefit of war profiteers, leaving behind thousands of families starving and forced to buy this same aid at insane prices—if they can afford it.

If the trucks are designated for these war profiteers, no one dares stop them. They pass safely while the thieves and bandits simply vanish.

From the very beginning of this massacre, the Mythical Government and its security apparatus realized the strategic importance of food as a weapon. Just two days after October 7th, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared, “No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.” He forgot to add: “no medicine.”

All access points to Gaza were closed—he holds the keys and if not, then firepower substitutes. The flow of goods became dependent on the pace of military operations and was used as a bargaining chip in hostage negotiations—an unprecedented act condemned by all international laws. Sometimes under the pretext of preventing the aid from reaching the local rulers in Gaza, or international agencies, whose presence in Palestine is being undermined

Amidst this scarcity, as with every war-torn area where security collapses, a class emerges within society eager to detach from the collective suffering in pursuit of quick fortune. Driven by greed and often fully aware that their behavior serves the interests of those imposing the siege, they proceed with their twisted logic

The Mythical Government devised the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" to provide aid—a U.S.-Israeli project designed to manage humanitarian assistance in a way that aligns with both countries' vision for Gaza’s future. This vision prevents the local rulers from benefiting and sidelines international aid organizations long active in the region

As soon as operations began, a new chapter of Palestinian suffering unfolded, marked by utter chaos and certain death. Imagine tens of thousands of people competing for a few thousand food parcels, funneled through narrow barbed-wire corridors, surrounded by tanks and soldiers, with no clear system for distribution. No IDs, no target zones. No matter how early you arrive, hundreds have arrived before you

Anyone getting too close to the remote supervisors faces a shot to the head or upper body. The lucky ones return with a food parcel, the less fortunate pick up scraps from the ground, and the majority go home empty-handed—along with dozens of corpses and wounded bodies

This dire state wasn’t born overnight; it is the inevitable result of 18 years of policies enforced by the de facto rulers of Gaza. Who wages such a wide-scale war without first securing essential supplies for the civilian population? Who initiates such conflict without stockpiling six months’ worth of food? Who maintains or raises taxes on goods during such a massacre? Who encouraged the looting of international aid warehouses at the start of the war? Who made mosque clerics and Brotherhood coordinators gatekeepers to gas refills and food parcels?

They have presented the world with the worst model of humanitarian aid management, using people's needs to consolidate authoritarian rule. International organizations were eventually forced to submit or face expulsion.

Meanwhile, the Mythical Government uses food as a weapon, projecting its propaganda to the world with pictures, videos, and live testimonies to justify ongoing destruction.

These war profiteers didn’t fall from the sky. They were conditioned over years to surrender part of their goods—up to a third—in taxes to fund the salaries and activities of the ruling government. In return, they were allowed to recoup their losses through obscene profit margins, enabled by networks of smugglers, protectors, and decades of ingrained corruption.

Caught in this endless vortex and facing starvation, many citizens either engaged with the system or chose not to confront it. Gradually, new societal norms took hold, replacing once-sacred values that had long fueled Palestinian resilience.

Military operations will end eventually—sooner or later. But the real danger lies ahead: How can a society devastated by death, hunger, and internal tyranny—with a collapsed economy, broken education system, and absent laws—return to normalcy?

Like it or not, what’s happening in Gaza is a battle for existence. You have a Mythical Government that seeks to make life there a fantasy, and a de facto authority whose limited vision has failed to acknowledge its own incapacity. They still believe that the handful of remaining hostages—dead or alive—are their winning card. But this card is now only enabling further death and destruction.

Netanyahu’s government knows this—and so do they. Yet neither side wants to take the path that could resolve it all. Doing so would expose their mutual failures and 30 years of symbiotic dysfunction.

What happened in Gaza has happened. The question is: will anyone on the other side of the homeland take heed?