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<\/p>\nOn a small round table in the shade, Ihab al-Hannawi is hunched over a broken banknote, doing a job that didn\u2019t exist before the war.<\/p>\n
Fishing from a Tupperware container that contains grubby scraps of cash, he finds and cuts a piece of a matching colour and denomination, applies a special glue, and lets his new creation dry under the hot summer sun.<\/p>\n
This is how some now make money in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Since Israel stopped the supply of freshly printed banknotes of its currency, the shekel, the currency used in Gaza, at the start of its offensive in October 2023, the population has been forced to recycle all it can.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis paper money has been circulating for nearly two years without replacement. Many people are stuck with worn-out cash that they can\u2019t even use to buy basic things,\u201d said Hannawi, 27, in Gaza City.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the banks shut down and cash liquidity became a serious problem, paper currency started deteriorating \u2014 getting dirty, torn or worn out. I try to help people as much as I can by fixing their notes. Some can be salvaged and used again, but others can\u2019t. This job didn\u2019t exist before the war \u2014 it came into being because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The money repairer Ihab al-Hannawi charges 2 shekels per damaged note<\/p>\n
GABRIELLE WEINIGER FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n
Although it was primarily a cash-based society before the conflict began, with more than 80 per cent of transactions conducted hand-to-hand, the destruction of all 56 of Gaza\u2019s bank branches has pushed the monetary system close to total collapse. Three ATM machines are now partially functioning for a population of more than two million, where previously there were 94.<\/p>\n
The money repairer charges 2 shekels per damaged note, about 40p, repairing some 500-600 banknotes a day \u2014 if they are salvageable.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIf the currency is too badly damaged, I tell them honestly \u2014 it can\u2019t be repaired. I won\u2019t accept it if I know it\u2019s unusable. I repair the notes depending on their condition. If they\u2019re torn, I tape them carefully. If there are stains or marks, I use a rubber to clean them. We also have a special adhesive we apply to the bills, then we let them dry. Sometimes, if a note is missing a corner or an edge, I cut a matching piece from other damaged notes I have and use it to patch the bill together.\u201d<\/p>\n
After months of Israeli airstrikes, ground incursions and restrictions of food, fuel and medicines, what is left of the Gazan economy now relies on the informal activity of street vendors, stalls and resellers of stolen goods.<\/p>\n
![\"Explosion](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/d2858be2-e221-4a8b-94ee-2647277a5a8b.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Smoke erupts after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Sunday<\/p>\n
JEHAD ALSHRAFI\/AP<\/p>\n
With industrial zones, banks and factories destroyed or closed, the vast majority of people are unemployed or destitute.<\/p>\n
Transactions have largely moved to a barter system, facilitated by Facebook, to avoid the skyrocketing commission taken by money changers and brokers still willing to convert digital funds into physical cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone would post [online] saying they want to exchange a can of baby formula for a bag of chickpeas or beans. I message them and we agree to swap \u2014 just to survive,\u201d said Suheila Saalak from the market in al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City. <\/p>\n
She tried to use her last 20-shekel note to buy essentials for her seven grandchildren, but the vendors wouldn\u2019t accept her frayed money.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmotionally, I can\u2019t bear it. I have no other money, just that one 20-shekel bill. Even if I try to withdraw some cash, they charge huge commissions. It\u2019s simply impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samir abu Mudallah, the former dean of the economics faculty and administrative sciences at al-Azhar University, said physical currency was almost non-existent in local markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are forced to use cash-out services, handing over digital balances to individuals or informal money changers in exchange for worn banknotes, often at a 40\u201345 per cent commission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile some banks, like Bank of Palestine, have tried to reassure the public that worn currency will be replaced, this has not yet been implemented. Sadly, some traders have exploited the situation and refuse to accept even slightly damaged 5 or 10-shekel notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Palestinians rehabilitate and restore damaged and worn-out banknotes<\/p>\n
MAJDI FATHI\/NURPHOTO\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Last year, the Palestine Monetary Authority, based in the West Bank, tried to introduce a new digital payment, which in its early stages attracted half a million users, but it failed to take off, as merchants continued to insist on cash.<\/p>\n
Any goodwill that might usually accompany supply and demand has dissipated for a desperate Palestinian population. Naji Shabat, a displaced father of three in western Gaza, found himself walking nearly 5km just to change his money in order to buy food. Whether he pays by cash or through a banking app, the commission is \u201coutrageous\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEither way, we\u2019re being crushed. Even inside Gaza, traders are putting a lot of pressure on us, and people are making things harder for each other. Yesterday, I went out to buy a few ingredients for cooking. I walked nearly five kilometres \u2014 six or seven streets \u2014 just to find someone who would accept the 50 shekels I had. One said he didn\u2019t have change, another said the money was too damaged, and a third told me the prices were sky high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shabat said the prices on the streets multiplied by the day. One kilo of flour has risen to 70 shekels, which will turn to 130 shekels as the merchants will not accept digital payments, and cash must be withdrawn. The entire sack of flour has gone up 3,650 per cent, from \u00a38 to \u00a3325. One litre of cooking oil was \u00a31.30, and has risen to \u00a315, while a kilo of tomatoes that previously sold for 40p is now \u00a313.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t afford to buy nappies or milk for my grandchildren,\u201d said Saalak. \u201cIt breaks my heart that I can\u2019t meet their most basic needs. A single can of baby formula now costs 170 shekels and one pack of nappies has reached $100 (\u00a373).\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the population has long run out of cash and relies on aid. In recent weeks, that reliance has meant a chaotic and dangerous rush for essentials at the newly designated aid distribution sites, run by private American contractors and fortified by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Divided over Gaza: the Israeli soldiers who fight on and those who refuse<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n More than 800 people have died around these sites<\/a> since they started operating in late May, adding to the death toll of 58,000 Palestinians in the 21 months of war, according to the Hamas-linked health ministry. <\/p>\n On Sunday, eyewitnesses said that ten Palestinians, including six children, were killed by an Israeli drone strike while waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it was investigating a \u201ctechnical error\u201d with a strike targeting an Islamic Jihad \u201cterrorist\u201d that caused the missile to fall dozens of metres from its target. <\/p>\n Israel has long maintained that the aid distributed by long-established international organisations was either being stolen by Hamas fighters, kept for themselves or resold to pay its fighters. <\/p>\n The UN made almost 400 efforts to co-ordinate aid outreach with Israeli authorities in June, but Israel denied the organisation entry in 44 per cent of such attempts. Israel has itself delivered 32 truckloads a day since the collapse of the last ceasefire in February. <\/p>\n \u2022 The five obstacles to a Gaza ceasefire deal<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n