The Impact of the Closures
on Food Prices

Very soon after the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000, it became clear that the closures in the West Bank imposed by the IDF would have an acute economic impact. By early 2002, the Palestinian economy was in a severe recession. In the World Bank’s Assessment on the Palestinian economic crisis in March, 2002, it said:

"The proximate cause of the economic crisis is Israel’s closure of the Palestinian territories".

Elsewhere, the study points out that,

"in the West Bank there is evidence of sharp local variations in food prices between localities, due to transport problems. In food-producing areas, prices have been severely depressed because goods cannot reach the market, while in non-agricultural areas, especially in larger cities, food prices have risen steeply because of the relative scarcity of these same goods".

This study will examine in more detail the effect of these closures on the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables in the Hebron area, south of Bethlehem, particularly in the refugee camps of Arroub and Fawwar.

The southern West Bank (with Hebron as its main population centre) is, roughly speaking, a non-agricultural area. With the exception of the cultivation of various fruit trees (olive, almond, peach, fig, grapevine), there is virtually no commercial cultivation of vegetables and other fruit trees, like citrus fruits, apples and bananas.

Hebron’s fruit and vegetable market imports 70% of its vegetables from Gaza. The rest comes from the north of the West Bank (15%) and Israel (15%). All fruit is imported from Israel. All residents of Hebron town and the surrounding villages, as well as the refugee camps of Arroub and Fawwar, are and always have been dependent on this market for their regular supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Generally speaking, Gazan vegetables are of a higher quality and, due to the great supply, are less expensive than vegetables from the northern West Bank, for example. This northern production is not as high as production in Gaza and supplies roughly cover only the needs only of the northern area, as well as Ramallah, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. As such, Gaza can be defined as Hebron’s bread basket.

Given that Hebron imports virtually all fresh fruits and vegetables by land, the imposition of the closures by the IDF following the onset of the second Intifada in late 2000 has had a significant effect on the price and availability of fresh vegetables in the Hebron area, in general, and in the refugee camps, in particular, where prices have frequently doubled or even tripled in recent years. Consequently, refugees are no longer buying fruits and vegetables in the same amounts as before. Hajj Omar, one of 18 wholesalers at the Hebron wholesale market, estimates that trade has decreased by as much as 30% when compared to pre-Intifada days.

The shortages in supply and subsequent increases in cost are driven almost exclusively by the increase in transportation costs, which in turn have risen due to an increase in mileage covered by delivery trucks and long hours waiting at checkpoints as a result of the closures. According to the World Bank’s Assessment,

"…transport time [from the production site to an outlet within the West Bank and Gaza] has more than tripled. The very large increase in both travel distances and times is partly due to the fact that trucks must circumvent checkpoints by using dirt roads."

With regard to Arroub and Fawwar refugee camps, two price structures must be taken into consideration. The first is the transport between Gaza and Hebron, and the second is the transport between Hebron and the camps lying 15 kilometers to the north and south of Hebron, respectively, when traveling on the main road (Route 60).

The Road to Hebron

A vendor of vegetables in Jericho describes it like this, "The trip [from Jericho] to Hebron that usually took just over an hour will now take between 5-6 hours. Time is consumed by driving over long by-pass roads, waiting to cross checkpoints and on-and-off loading of lorries back-to-back at checkpoints, sometimes several times for the same load".

Almost all fruits and vegetables enter Hebron through the Tarqumiyyeh checkpoint to the west of town, whether they come from Gaza, Israel or the North. As lorries from Israel are not allowed inside the West Bank, all goods are loaded onto West Bank lorries at the checkpoint for continued transport to the Hebron wholesale market.

According to various sources in the area (Various information was derived in conversation with Mr. Natsheh and Hajj Omar, two of 18 wholesale merchants in the Hebron vegetable wholesale market, Mr. Maher Haimouni, Executive Manager of the Hebron Chamber of Commerce and various lorry drivers at Tarqumiyyeh checkpoint interviewed on 20 February 2003.), the transport cost of a full trailer of vegetables from the Gaza production site to the Hebron wholesale market was about NIS 1200 before the closures. Today, the prices are compiled as follows:

Thus, the price of transport of a full trailer of vegetables from the site of production in Gaza to Hebron rose from about NIS 1200 to between NIS 3470 and NIS 3670, or an increase of between 290% to 300%.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that by the time the vegetables from Karni arrive at Tarqumiyyeh, they have frequently spent 8-10 days waiting for clearance to cross, by which time many of the vegetables have started to rot or are already rotten.

In addition to transport, another important factor affecting the price and availability of vegetables in Hebron, particularly tomatoes and cucumbers, is the imposition or lifting of closure on Gaza. While all vegetable are affected, the price of tomatoes and cucumbers in particular can increase by as much as three to four times in one day if Gaza is closed. (Ordinarily, a box of tomatoes (10-22 kg) costs between NIS 12-15 (wholesale). When Gaza is closed, the price can jump to between NIS 40 and NIS 50 per box in one day.) | (Incidentally, a closure of Gaza will also affect the prices of tomatoes and cucumbers in Israel.)

The Refugee Camps

Arroub
There are two refugee camps in the immediate vicinity of Hebron town: Arroub Camp about 15 kilometers to the north of Hebron and Fawwar Camp about 15 kilometers to the south. (Arroub has approximately 8,900 and Fawwar about 6,800 refugees).

The fruit and vegetable vendors in Arroub Camp receive almost all their fresh fruits and vegetables from the Hebron wholesale market, with only small quantities being imported from Bethlehem.

Before the imposition of the system of closures on the West Bank, food was shuttled the short distance between the Hebron wholesale market and the camp every day along Route 60. Today, vendors and wholesale merchants need to obtain a permit from the Hebron Civil Administration to cross the Dhahiyyeh checkpoint, something which requires a lot of time and is rarely granted. Consequently, vendors are forced to take alternate routes which increase the daily trip of 15 kilometres to up to 50 kilometres.

There are three different routes:

1. Through Dhahiyyeh Checkpoint (15 kms.) only with permit;
2. Through Tarqumiyyeh, Beit Kahil, Nuba, Surief, and Beit Ummar (the western route (50 kms.);
3. Through Beit Anun and Sa’ir, much of it is a dirt road (eastern route).

The surcharge for every box due to this circuitous transport ranges between NIS 3-5/box. Thus, a vendor bringing a small truck of vegetables (ca. 200 boxes) from the wholesale market to the entrance of Arroub Camp has to pay an additional NIS 600-NIS 1000 for each 200 boxes beyond the wholesale price.

Furthermore, at Arroub Camp delivery trucks are not allowed to enter the camp and are stopped by the IDF at the checkpoint at the main entrance to the camp on the main road. There, the goods are loaded onto donkey-carts (one of two in the camp) for further transport inside the camp. The donkey-shuttle-service charges about NIS 15 per trip. (According to a number of donkey-cart operators interviewed in the Hebron area in mid-February 2003, due to the steep increase in demand for donkeys, the price of a donkey today is between 800-1000 Jordanian Dinar, as compared to between 200-500 Jordanian Dinar before the Intifada)

One of the main vendors on the main road in Arroub Camp claimed that he used to buy about NIS 10,000 worth of vegetables every day to stock his market. He says that these days he buys goods for about NIS 1000 every other day and that, even then, the prices are so high that the refugees cannot afford to buy what they used to.

According to the survey we conducted in Arroub Camp between 15 and 20 February 2003, the prices of fruits and vegetables more than doubled (and in some cases tripled) as compared to prices before the September 2000 (See the “Table of Comparative Prices”). Thus, the price of one box of potatoes rose from NIS 10 to NIS 24, eggplant (when available) from NIS 7 to NIS 25, and onions from NIS 14 to NIS 40 (See the “Table of Comparative Prices” for details).

The prices for fruits (which are imported exclusively from Israel) have increased by only 30% compared to pre-Intifada days. Merchants at the wholesale market in Hebron offered the explanation that the distance and time in driving goods from Israel to Hebron has not significantly changed which is reflected in the prices. Thus, a kilo of apples (wholesale) used to cost NIS 2.5 and is now available for about NIS 3.5. Bananas used to cost NIS 2.0/kg and now cost NIS 3.0/kg.

Just prior to Eid Al Adha holiday, and for one week after, when Israel allowed only very few trucks to cross the Karni checkpoint from Gaza into the West Bank, the prices of a box of tomatoes rose from NIS 15/box to NIS 50/box overnight.

Due to a combination of these high prices and the complete closure of all access roads between Hebron and Arroub Camp (western and eastern routes), Arroub Camp had no access to fresh fruits and vegetables at all between 8-20 February 2003. By chance, we re-visited the vendor on 20 February when he received his first shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables in nearly two weeks. The ‘fresh’ vegetables were not appetizing and many of them, particularly the eggplant (at a cost of NIS 25/box !) and tomatoes, were starting to rot. The vendor explained that the camp residents would not be able to afford the truly fresh vegetables, so he bought these.

Fawwar
Mousallam from Fawwar Camp is the main vendor of fresh fruits and vegetables on Fawwar Camp’s main road. Mousallam buys his fruits and vegetables from a vendor who comes to the camp, usually in the afternoon. Instead of driving the 15 kilometres south between Hebron and Fawwar camp on Rt. 60, wholesaler’s trucks take the south-western route through Dura, Dahriyyeh to Yatta and, finally, Fawwar. The food generally arrives in the afternoon.

According to Moussallam, the wholesaler adds an additional NIS 5.00 on the price of each box for transport from Hebron to Fawwar. Sometimes, if the truck does not come through Yatta but stops near the main entrance, Moussallam has to pay an additional NIS 15.00 to a donkey-shuttle service operating in the camp. For his load it usually requires 5-6 trips. (In Fawwar Camp there are 5 donkey-cart operators.)

Moussallam claims that before the Intifada he used to buy an average of 40 boxes per day for his stand which cost him NIS 30 in transport from Hebron. Today, he only buys about 20 boxes per day which cost him NIS 100 through the eastern route and NIS 200 if they come directly from Hebron in a taxi with a permit.

All this has taken its toll on the prices, of course. Prices in Fawwar Camp are similar to those in Arroub, having more than doubled since before the imposition of the closure system. So, for example, a box of tomatoes (wholesale) which used to cost NIS 9.00/box now costs NIS 15-25/box. Potatoes used to be NIS 12/box and now cost NIS 22/box. Likewise, onions were available for NIS 15/box and now cost NIS 30/box.

The imposition of the system of closures has had a significant influence on the increase of prices of fresh fruits and vegetables in the Hebron area, and in particular the UNRWA refugee camps of Arroub and Fawwar. The situation there, from the point of view of the consumer, is worse than that in the northern West Bank as the North is largely self-sufficient in vegetables and prices have remained relatively stable and, in some cases even decreased as the market is flooded which food which cannot be exported to the southern areas.

Hebron is a non-agricultural area and depends on imports from Gaza, Israel and the North for its supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. The closures have forced a price inflation through increased transport costs (time and distance) by as much as 300%, in turn doubling or even tripling prices of fresh fruits and vegetables. In the context of a generally deteriorating economic situation and high unemployment which is also driven by the imposition of closure, an increasing number of people have a steadily decreasing amount of money available to buy these commodities.

A box of tomatoes that could cost as little as NIS 5 in Gaza or NIS 9 in Jenin or Jericho, for example, costs between NIS 15- NIS 50 by the time it reaches the Hebron wholesale market and more yet by the time it reaches the camps.

The situation for camp residents is further exacerbated as compared to that of other villagers in the area insofar as the refugees in Arroub and Fawwar camp do not have access to land to supplement their diet with home-grown food. They have to buy food.