According to the Israeli Ynet website, smokers in Gaza are fuming. The Hamas government has raised taxes on cigarettes in Gaza to fill its coffers.
According to one Gazan, Lucky Strikes used to cost 10 shekels per pack. Since Hamas came to power, the same cigarettes cost 16 or 17 shekels. Gazans can no longer afford them.
Gazans are now turning to locally grown tobacco and rolling papers, which isn’t making anyone happy. As one smoker said,”I roll my cigarettes, and seal them with my mouth, and before I close my lips I spit on Hamas and Fatah that are squabbling between them for their own interests.”
