Media office of the government in Gaza: We are closely following the blatant misinformation campaign and the false statement issued by what is called the "Israeli Government Activities Coordinator in the Territories"

Media office of the government in Gaza:

▪We are closely following the blatant misinformation campaign and the false statement issued by what is called the "Israeli Government Activities Coordinator in the Territories", through which it is trying - as usual - to promote false claims and fabricated accusations about the mechanisms for regulating commercial movement and the entry of goods into the strip, inventing accounts about forcing financial amounts on merchants, distorting procedures for regulating cash circulation, and trying to hold the government apparatus in Gaza responsible for the disruption of truck entry.

▪In the face of this misinformation practiced by the occupation, which aims to evade humanitarian obligations and justify violations and threats to impose more restrictions that deepen the starvation policy against our people, we have taken the initiative to put the relevant international and regional parties in the picture of the clear facts, as we sent official letters and correspondence to the following: the mediators, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the State of Qatar, and the Republic of Turkey; Ramez Alakbarov, Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, UN Humanitarian Coordinator; and Nikolay Mladenov, Executive Director of the Peace Council, and Ali Shath, the General Commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

▪We confirm our categorical rejection of these fabrications promoted by the occupation and categorically deny imposing any taxes or government fees on commercial trucks.

▪We also confirm that we have not collected any taxes or fees on commercial activities over the past three years, in consideration of the exceptional humanitarian and economic circumstances we are going through under the genocide war against the residents of the Gaza Strip.

▪As for what the occupation coordinator falsely referred to regarding the amount of (10,000 shekel), it is in fact linked to a "voluntary community initiative" in which a number of businessmen, figures, institutions and companies operating in the strip participate within a national fund for community contribution, and its resources are directed entirely to supporting the most vulnerable and affected groups (orphans, widows, women in need, children, needy students), in addition to funding shelter, sanitation and urgent relief projects, according to the highest humanitarian standards and considerations.

▪The procedures related to cash transactions (at a rate of 30%) that the occupation tried to distort came as an inevitable necessity to address the severe imbalances in the Palestinian market, foremost among them the severe shortage of cash liquidity and the spread of worn-out banknotes, and the resulting increase in citizens' suffering and the obstruction of buying and selling operations and the settlement of daily transactions.

▪We confirm that this approach was not a unilateral government decision, but came in full agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and at its initiative, in response to the challenges facing market activity.

▪Reducing these regulatory measures to claims of "control over money", without verifying their nature and objectives, is merely a misleading conclusion that lacks objectivity, and through it the occupation seeks to justify policies of restriction and starvation against our Palestinian people, and we confirm our full readiness to explain the regulatory basis of these procedures to the competent international bodies.

▪The government apparatus in the Gaza Strip is committed, based on its responsibilities, to applying Palestinian law and combating the monopoly of basic goods, manipulation of prices, and exploitation of citizens' needs to achieve illegal gains in light of the harsh humanitarian conditions, and we will not leave our people prey to any attempts at monopoly, manipulation, or exploitation.

▪Any measures taken against some merchants are based exclusively on suspicions and violations that require legal accountability, including suspicions of illicit gain, and they are fully subject to the legal and judicial procedures in force in Palestine and in the Gaza Strip specifically.

▪We strongly reject the occupation's attempt to build general conclusions on individual cases whose circumstances were not presented in full, and to exploit them to portray them as a campaign of coercive collection. We are fully prepared to provide all documents and testimonies for an objective verification of the reasons for those lawful and justified measures.

▪Our highest and most urgent priority is to ensure the regular and sufficient flow of goods. Accordingly, the announced understandings, including what was agreed in the Sharm el-Sheikh track, obligate the occupation government led by the criminal "Netanyahu" to implement its commitments to bring in aid and supplies, specifically the entry of (600) trucks daily.

▪We stress our categorical rejection of allowing any reduction or disruption of this commitment, or linking its implementation to flimsy claims about organizing the internal market.

▪We also reject any attempt to hold the government apparatus responsible for reducing truck entry, as the استمرار of these restrictions exacerbates the humanitarian and economic crisis and obstructs the provision of food, medicine and shelter.