Gaza wholesalers boycott imports to protest Hamas taxes
Dec. 1, 2015 5:29 P.M. (Updated: Dec. 1, 2015 5:29 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769109

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Several Gazan wholesalers on Tuesday stopped importing
fruits and livestock from Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing to protest
new taxes imposed by the Hamas government.

Salim Abu Samra, a wholesaler in the besieged enclave, told Ma'an that the
Ministry of Finance in Gaza recently imposed an extra importation tax of $30
per ton of fruits entering Gaza through the crossing.

The new tax, he said, was in addition to 100 shekels ($25) the ministry had
previously been collecting.

A further $50 tax was imposed on the import of calves and $25 for sheep, he
said.

Abu Samra said wholesalers in the territory would refuse to import fruit and
livestock through the crossing until the new taxes are rescinded, without
providing further details about how many Palestinian wholesalers in Gaza are
taking part in the boycott.

A Hamas spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

In April, a new tax of 200 shekels ($51) was imposed per ton of fruits in
what was named the "joint responsibility tax." It was later reduced to 150
shekels ($38) per ton after wholesalers protested the tax.

The Gaza Strip, home to 1.8 million people, faces an Israeli blockade and a
closed border with Egypt, and rebuilding following the 2014 war has been
extremely slow.

More than 60 percent of young people do not have work, while 39 percent of
the population lives below the poverty line and 80 percent depend on various
forms of aid.


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