Lighters become luxury item in Gaza as prices soar to $44

GAZA — Prices of lighters have risen sharply across the Gaza Strip as basic goods become increasingly difficult to obtain, with new small lighters now selling for around $23 and larger ones for about $44, compared with about one dollar before the war. Residents describe borrowing the items from neighbors or sending children to neighboring tents to catch a flame. Wesam Abdullah, 37, who lives in a tent near Gaza port with her seven children, said she borrows a lighter from neighbors or waits for someone to start a fire and sends one of her children with paper to bring back a flame. In the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, 70-year-old Muna Suleiman said she lends her lighter to neighbors throughout the day, with people constantly knocking on her door to light stoves for cooking and warming milk for babies without leaving their homes. Saddam Abu Taimeh, 33, a former construction worker who lost his job, now repairs 40 to 50 broken lighters a day, charging between two and four shekels per repair. His daily earnings of 30 to 40 shekels amount to roughly $10 to $13, he said. Israeli authorities say goods classified as "dual-use" are subject to strict controls and that items including lighters face restricted entry into Gaza. Aid groups distributed lighters earlier in the summer, but that program has not been continued.