Saleh went into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt trying to keep his parents and five siblings alive in Gaza. As Israel clamped down on trade and aid, citing security concerns, prices had skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Israeli trucks secretly moved at night through a military border, carrying restricted goods from iPhones to drugs. Our investigation uncovered a shadowy network of profiteers and middlemen, some of whom are in the Israeli security service, making millions off of a humanitarian crisis and trading black market goods for intel and hostage remains.
From the outside, the world has watched as Israel has justified its restrictions on aid and trade policies that have led to hunger and crushing inflation, claiming security concerns and military imperatives. Those on the inside, forced to operate within their system, know a different reality; those in power have generated millions from the suffering in Gaza, while allowing in the very goods and fees that enrich and strengthen Hamas.
