Gaza is running out of cash

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Gaza’s ongoing humanitarian crisis has created yet another problem for residents – a desperate shortage of cash.

With the Israeli siege blocking supplies of fresh currency into the territory, Palestinians are having to mend their “tattered bills and rusted coins” to buy essential goods, said the Financial Times.

Gaza’s last working ATM closed in late 2024, while most of its banks have either shut due to security fears or been destroyed by Israeli air strikes. Due to the lack of new cash coming into the enclave, much of the remaining currency has ended up in the hands of “powerful wholesalers” trading in goods from Egypt and Israel. They use bank transfers to pay for the imports, but insist buyers pay cash for the goods.

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Charity workers and aid agencies hit

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Known as “exchangers”, these men are becoming a way of life in Gaza, said CBC News. One, named Saadi Al-Ashqar, said that cashflow was being controlled by “top businessmen” and that the only way to get money in and out of the enclave was through a digital banking app tied to the Bank of Palestine. “Those who control this situation are unfortunately taking advantage of the situation that we and the citizens are living in,” he said.

It is not only Gazans who are being hit; employees at charities and humanitarian agencies are also having to use traders to receive their wages. Locally based workers at the charity War Child are having to transfer their salary to a trader, who then takes a 40% cut before giving them the rest of their wages in cash, according to The New Arab. The charity has started paying them an extra allowance to make up some of the shortfall.