Emma Goldberg and Emily Kassie’s New York Times investigation reveals how Israeli trade curbs and informal profiteers have driven essential‑goods prices in Gaza sky‑high. London‑based Palestinian Saleh Abu Shamala has accrued $125,000 in debt sending money to his family as a kilo of flour jumped from $0.50 to $27 and eggs from $2.50 to $130. The surge threatens basic household budgets.

Investigators traced the price distortion to a tightly controlled commercial flow that collapsed from 400 trucks a day to roughly 14 after Israel limited crossings for security reasons. Select Gazan merchants pay opaque “coordination fees” to a handful of approved importers, inflating costs. Ruwa Jabr of PalTrade estimates a shipment costing 100 shekels can reach 20,000 shekels before reaching consumers.

A shadow network led by a figure known as Abu Basel exploits police contacts to move contraband—including cigarettes, concrete and refrigerated meat—worth millions of dollars through the same bottleneck. Smugglers claim their activity supports intelligence gathering on Israeli hostages, but the illicit trade fuels price spikes and enriches intermediaries. Saleh’s mounting debt underscores how the wartime economy severely squeezes ordinary families.