Exclusive: Egyptian firm charges commercial trucks entering Gaza $20,000 in ‘bribes’
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Egyptian tribal leader Ibrahim al-Organi has continued to exercise de facto control over the entry of commercial and aid trucks into Gaza after the ceasefire that came into effect on 19 January, Middle East Eye can reveal.
Efforts to bring goods and aid into Gaza after the ceasefire are complicated by the exorbitant fees imposed on the entry of commercial trucks, and the power granted to Organi’s firms to determine which trucks enter the strip, according to Egyptian and Palestinian sources who briefed MEE.
Trucks carrying commercial goods, which are later sold in Gaza, are charged at least $20,000, the sources said, while aid trucks are also subject to extortion before crossing to the enclave.
Organi is a Sinai businessman, politician and tribal leader allied with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Organi's name has become synonymous with unofficial profits made out of the suffocating Gaza blockade, particularly from desperate Palestinians attempting to flee the fighting.
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Because Egyptians also hate Palestinians. In fact, a lot of Middle Eastern nations would be happy for Israel to redevelop Gaza into a resort area except that it would mean they couldn't use Palestinians as a wedge issue.
Egypt has never offered Palestinian refugees the option of citizenship. Their explanation is that if they are given citizenship, they will lose the right of return. Maybe let them decide that? Especially all the ones who were born in Egypt and lived their whole lives in Egypt as second-class non-citizens who do not get as many rights and protections as Egyptian citizens? But they don't want any of them becoming citizens because they would happily roll over Gaza themselves if it would benefit them.
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The Organi cartel’s humanitarian racket exposes how crisis is just another revenue stream for the connected. When NGOs get sidelined by for-profit firms charging $20k per truck, “aid” becomes a mafia-grade operation—complete with monopoly pricing and cigarette smuggling empires. The fact that chocolate shipments outpace medical supplies isn’t incompetence; it’s a grotesque parody of priorities dictated by kickbacks.
Egypt’s role here is pure realpolitik: prop up the blockade, let cronies extract value from despair, then feign ignorance. Meanwhile, Gaza’s suffocation gets repackaged as a logistics issue. Every “ceasefire” just reshuffles which middlemen get paid.
Welcome to late-stage catastrophe capitalism, where even survival is a premium service. The siege isn’t a bug—it’s the business model. Suffering, once a tragedy, is now a commodified vertical.
