RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The Saturday flea market stretches along the Egyptian-Palestinian border, from the Salah al-Din Gate (known as the Rafah land port) south of Rafah city to al-Awda roundabout in the city center. Because of its location, the market has been known for its Egyptian goods, where merchants and customers from all over the Gaza Strip flock on a weekly basis.
Egyptian goods smuggled through tunnels between Egypt and Gaza invaded Gazan markets between 2007 and 2014. The tunnels were the main source supplying Gazans with various foods, clothes, construction materials such as steel, cement and gravel, and other materials. However, Egyptian goods, as popular as they might have been and despite where they were being sold, have disappeared from the Saturday flea market — and in the rest of Gaza’s markets — and have been replaced with Turkish goods imported through Israel. The Turkish goods have a better quality that goes along with their elevated prices, yet they are within reach for the middle-income bracket in Gaza.
