Palestinians suffer as they find newly reopened banks have no cash

Palestinians in Gaza have been going through a shortage of cash as they are unable to spend what little money they have, with no cash in the banks, Al Jazeera reports.

Banks, many damaged or destroyed along with homes, schools and other institutions across Gaza during two years of war, began reopening on October 16, six days after the ceasefire was announced. Queues soon formed but people came away disappointed.“There is no money, liquidity at the bank,” said father-of-six Wael Abu Fares, 61, standing outside the Bank of Palestine.

“You just come and do paperwork transactions and leave,” the Palestinian told the Reuters news agency.

Mother-of-seven Iman al-Ja’bari longs for a time when transactions at banks used to take less than an hour.

“You need two or three days to go back and forth, back and forth, spending your whole life standing there,” she told Reuters.

“And in the end, you only get 400 or 500 shekels ($123 or $153). What can this (amount) buy with the incredibly high prices today that we can’t afford?”

"Banks are open, Air conditioning is on, but they are mostly doing electronic business, no deposits, no withdrawals of cash," Gaza economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab told Reuters.

"People go to some greedy merchants to cash their salaries and they give them cash for a huge fee, which ranges between 20 per cent and sometimes goes to 40 per cent."

For a few Palestinians, the cash crunch has provided an opportunity to eke out a living. Manal al-Saidi, 40, repairs damaged banknotes to cover some basic needs.

"I work and I make 20, 30 shekels ($6, $9), and I leave with a loaf of bread, beans for dinner, falafel, anything, something simple," she said, wiping notes.

"Not that I can get (afford) vegetables or anything, no, just enough to get by."

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes and artillery continue to hit Khan Younis despite Israel’s claim that it returned to the ceasefire two days ago.

Gaza residents say they fear a return to Israel’s full-scale bombing, as they struggle to find food and shelter amid the supposed truce.

Hamas returned the bodies of two more deceased Israeli captives, which Israel says were positively identified.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,527 people and wounded 170,395 since it began in October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.