Why I spend hours painstakingly repairing banknotes

In a bustling Gaza City market, a currency repairman expertly examines a worn, yellow 100-shekel ($30.50; £23.10) bill. He straightens it and enhances its faded color with careful pencil strokes.

While Baraa Abu al-Aoun should be studying at university, he instead makes a living from a table he sets up on the roadside, charging a small amount to help keep cash in circulation.

Banknote repair is a new business developing in Gaza.

Since the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023 and the devastating war that followed, Israel has halted banknote transfers, along with many other supplies.

Most of the banks were destroyed in Israeli attacks and many were looted. Although some branches have reopened since the ceasefire came into force seven weeks ago, there are still no working ATMs.

But people need money to buy food and basic needs. This has forced them to turn to unofficial money merchants who charge huge commissions to convert digital transfers into cash. This has also led to a huge increase in the use of e-wallet and money transfer applications.

And this means that every current banknote, no matter how worn, is more important than ever. This is where Baraa comes into play. “My tools are simple: ruler, pencils, colored pencils and glue,” he says.

“The ceasefire did not change the financial situation. What I do now is to serve and help people.”

Gaza’s economic collapse during two years of intense war has been so catastrophic that the entire population of more than two million has been plunged into poverty, a new UN report says.

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), four out of five people are now unemployed, and even those who still have income or savings are struggling to access cash.

“This is nothing but pure pain,” says Numan Rayhan, who was exiled from Jabaliyah in northern Gaza to Gaza City with his few belongings. “Income shortage, money shortage, no cash flow from banks.”

Early in the war, Israeli attacks targeted banks that Israeli officials claimed were linked to Hamas. Their coffers were looted by armed Palestinian gangs, some of whom were thought to be Hamas. The Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) had previously announced that cash worth approximately $180 million (£136 million) had been stolen.

Israeli defense agency Cogat, which controls Gaza’s border crossings, confirmed that Israel does not allow cash to enter Gaza, in accordance with a political order and “due to Hamas’ dependence on cash to maintain its military activities.”

Zakaria Ajour, a stallholder at another market in Gaza City, says the lack of cash in circulation “causes problems for both sellers and buyers.” People “no longer want to accept worn and fragile notes at face value, even if a note has small scratches or bits of tape.

“Some customers come to me because they just want a small coin for transportation, but I don’t have any,” Mr. Ajour continues. “Ten-shekel coins are barely available, and even if they were, they are worth almost nothing due to inflation resulting from the cash crisis.”

Now there are long queues outside the Bank of Palestine in Gaza City, one of nine branches of five banks that have reopened. Customers can only reactivate frozen accounts, open new ones, or log into their banking apps.

Asmaa al-Ladaa wants to open an account so she can receive money directly from relatives living outside Gaza. “The whole process is chaos and crowding,” he says. “We woke up at 6 a.m. and left our children in the tent. We dropped everything to come to the bank.”

In the southern city of Khan Younis, where banks were too badly damaged to reopen, Abu Khalil has just returned from a march into central Gaza. After spending most of the day in the queue, he was unable to get into the bank and despaired at the idea of ​​going back again.

The grandfather still receives a monthly salary from the Palestinian Authority of around 2,000 shekels ($612; £463), but he says almost half of his income goes to expenses he pays to vendors or money dealers. “You have to pay the fees. There is no alternative,” he laments.

Adapting to the urgent need for cash during the war, many small businesses that had previously offered money transfer and exchange services began charging customers high commissions for converting electronic transfers into cash. Although it has decreased recently, it has reached 50% at times.

A currency trader who wishes to remain anonymous says market forces determine commission rates. “Our work is directly tied to market activity and the inflow of goods and aid,” he says. “When there is an inflow of goods and active trading, the commission drops significantly, sometimes as low as 20%. However, when the crossings are closed, the rate increases.”

Electronic transfers through bank apps, where shop and stall owners charge small fees, have become a popular workaround for Gazans when purchasing even small items.

PMA, which acts as the financial regulator, has introduced a payment system that allows instant transactions between local bank accounts. For those without an account, the Bank of Palestine offers e-wallets and says it currently has more than 500,000 users in Gaza. These operations can be done without an internet connection or application using text services on any mobile phone.

E-wallets are used by humanitarian organizations such as Unicef ​​and the World Food Program to send financial aid directly to families in need. Unicef ​​announced that it has been able to provide cash transfers to approximately one million people, half of them children, since the beginning of last year. It prioritizes vulnerable children, including amputees and orphans, and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

“Basically you can go to the grocery store and your phone is used as a payment card, you can shop with it,” explains Unicef’s Jonathan Crickx. “This provides very high traceability of how the money is actually spent. According to our observations, 99% of all beneficiaries spend firstly on food and water, secondly on hygiene items such as soap, and thirdly on electricity through generators.”

Mr Crickx says he has personally witnessed families having to buy 2kg (4.4lb) of tomatoes for around $80 and 5kg (11lb) of onions for $70.

Hanan Abu Jahel, who was displaced from Gaza City and lives with her extended family in a camp in Al-Zawaideh in central Gaza, recently received 1,200 shekels ($367) from Unicef. He used it to buy staples like rice, lentils and pasta.

However, he says: “My children need vegetables, fruits, meat and eggs. My youngest son especially craves eggs, but I cannot buy them because the prices are still too high and I have to meet the needs of 12 people.”

US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan promises “an economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza” that brings together “a panel of experts who helped birth some of the Middle East’s thriving modern miracle cities.”

The plan envisions new investments and “exciting development ideas” that could “create jobs, opportunity and hope for the Gaza of the future.” But there are no details on how growth and stability will be achieved; just as the UN trade agency has warned that the strip is going through the most severe economic crisis ever recorded.

In Gaza City, Baraa Abu al-Aoun holds the banknote he is working on up to the light. masterfully. He has more customers waiting, attracted by his sign promising repairs “with high professionalism and without adhesive tape.”

As Baraa continues to struggle, he longs to return to a normal life in the hope of finding more profitable employment.

“I just want this war to end completely,” he says. “My hope is to eventually relax so I can get an education and work with a degree.

“We are just surviving in Gaza. We are not people anymore.”