GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s merchants fear passing through Erez, the only Israeli crossing open to people. Many have been arrested while using the Erez crossing over the last two months, on charges of smuggling materials on the prohibited list — such as chemicals and steel for construction — that Israel implemented at the beginning of its blockade in 2006 on the Gaza Strip. The siege intensified with the destruction of the tunnels on the Egyptian border in 2013, and the renewed closing of the Rafah crossing.

Since the beginning of 2015, Israeli authorities have arrested 11 Palestinian merchants traveling through the Erez crossing, charging them with the formation of a ring that “smuggles prohibited raw materials” to resistance factions inside Gaza, to restore their capabilities lost after the war last summer, i.e., rebuild the tunnels. Three Israeli merchants were also arrested at the end of February on charges of cooperating with Palestinian merchants in smuggling materials to the resistance, which many Palestinian merchants denied.

Al-Monitor spoke with Hamed Haboush, the owner of the Haboush factory for cleaning materials in Gaza, who was one of the first merchants arrested, and subsequently released after spending 17 days in prison.

"My factory is well known to Israeli companies, with which we have dealt for years. I enter Israel roughly six times per month through the Erez crossing, without any problems. But I was surprised when Israeli soldiers detained me Feb. 3 for hours for questioning, before I was taken to Majdal prison, where I remained for 17 days on charges of importing prohibited goods," Hamed said.