With crossings tightly restricted and the entry of fuel and vehicle spare parts slowing to a trickle, even the simplest journey inside Gaza has become an exhausting and expensive challenge. [Getty]
As a regional war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other intensifies, its repercussions are increasingly being felt in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Far from the battlefronts of the wider confrontation, the consequences are filtering into Gaza’s already shattered economy, deepening a transportation crisis that has steadily worsened for more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on the territory.
With crossings tightly restricted and the entry of fuel and vehicle spare parts slowing to a trickle, even the simplest journey inside Gaza has become an exhausting and expensive challenge.
Speaking separately with The New Arab, residents said that the crisis has turned daily movement into a struggle, adding yet another burden to a population already grappling with widespread destruction, displacement, and economic collapse.
Due to the two-year Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, the collapse of the transportation sector has become one of the clearest signs of how severely daily life has deteriorated across the Strip.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, more than 70 per cent of vehicles in the territory have been damaged during the war, dramatically reducing the number of functioning cars and trucks.
Severe fuel shortages, damaged road networks, and the destruction or closure of many vehicle repair workshops have compounded the loss.
While Israeli bombardment remains the primary cause of the crisis, regional tensions are now exacerbating the situation.
Consequently, the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran has led to stricter restrictions and increasing uncertainty around supply routes in the region, further slowing the already limited flow of fuel and spare parts into Gaza.
Few cars, devastated roads
Taxi driver Abu Mohammed Rabah told TNA that he now parks his ageing car in a makeshift lot along a damaged street in Gaza City, surrounded by piles of rubble. The vehicle shows visible signs of the war, with dents and shrapnel scratches covering its body.
For the man in his fifties, keeping the car running has become a daily struggle.
“The tank holds between 40 and 50 litres,” he said. “If I want to fill it now, it could cost around US$ 600. Before the war, it was much cheaper.”
The high price and scarcity of fuel have forced many drivers to stop working altogether. Some lost their vehicles during Israeli airstrikes, while others can no longer afford to operate them.
“Many drivers stopped working […] Either their cars were destroyed, or they can no longer afford the fuel,” he added.
Even those who still own cars drive cautiously, fearing that any mechanical failure could end their livelihoods.
“If something breaks in the car, repairing it could cost thousands. Most of us don’t have that kind of money,” he explained.
Spare parts are nearly impossible to obtain. Abu Mohammed pointed to a cracked window in his car’s door.
“I’ve been driving like this for months. Even replacing something simple has become extremely expensive,” he said.
He also noted the skyrocketing cost of cooking gas cylinders, sometimes used as an alternative energy source.
“Today a gas cylinder can cost around US$ 550, while before the war it didn’t exceed US$40,” he said, frustrated. “How can we fix anything under these conditions?”
Crossings and bottlenecks supply
Economists say the transportation crisis is closely tied to the severe restrictions imposed on Gaza’s crossings, where the entry of goods and materials remains tightly controlled.
Before the war, spare parts and fuel arrived through commercial imports or humanitarian shipments. Today, these supplies enter only in limited quantities, creating severe shortages across the territory.
Regional war tied to the escalating confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran has added further pressure on regional supply chains, indirectly affecting the already fragile flow of materials reaching Gaza.
Gaza-based economic analyst Samir Abu Mudallala told TNA that the transportation sector is among the hardest-hit sectors by the war.
“The crisis is not only about the direct destruction caused by the bombing. It is also about the supply bottleneck,” he said.
“Even if a car survives the war, it becomes almost impossible to operate without fuel or spare parts,” he added. “We are talking about an entire system that has collapsed, from roads to repair workshops to the markets that supply them.”
Abu Mudallala explained that the extremely limited quantities of goods entering Gaza have pushed prices to unprecedented levels.
“When supply decreases to this extent, prices inevitably surge. The result is that both drivers and ordinary citizens struggle to cope,” he added.
Civilians bear the burden
The collapse of transportation services has turned ordinary tasks into exhausting journeys for Gaza’s residents.
In the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, residents say that travelling to nearby health centres has become increasingly difficult and expensive. Many families say they have to wait long periods for vehicles or pay high fares for short trips.
“Fares have become very high […] Sometimes I spend half the money I have just to reach the hospital,” Um Ahmed, who was displaced from northern Gaza earlier in the war, told TNA.
“Many families now resort to walking long distances,” she said. “Some days we choose to walk instead of taking a ride, but walking isn’t easy, especially with children or sick people.”
Across Gaza, damaged infrastructure is prolonging even short journeys. Large sections of roads have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes or torn apart by military vehicles, forcing drivers to take long detours through secondary streets, residents say.
Navigating Gaza has become increasingly risky for drivers who remain on the road.
Ahmed al-Masri, a young driver who continues to work despite the difficulties, describes driving on the Strip as “a daily adventure.”
“The roads are full of craters and rubble. Sometimes a street is destroyed or blocked, so we have to search for alternative routes,” he told TNA.
These detours increase fuel consumption and further raise transportation costs.
“In the end, it is the ordinary citizen who pays the price,” al-Masri said.
With Gaza’s infrastructure devastated and crossings still tightly restricted, experts warn that rebuilding the transportation sector could take years even if the war were to end soon.
For drivers like Abu Muhammed and al-Masri, however, the political calculations behind the crisis matter less than the daily struggle to survive.
“We pay the price for every war, even the wars that are fought far away from Gaza,” al-Masri said.
