MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
No new bank note has entered the Gaza Strip in more than a year of war. As paper money falls apart, a new business has emerged. NPR's Daniel Estrin has the story, with reporting from Gaza by NPR producer Anas Baba.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: This shack in the courtyard of a shelter has a sign in big, red Arabic letters. It advertises, repairs for damaged cash. The repairman is Yasser Abu Eirbid. He lays a 20-shekel note - like a $5 bill - on a desk. It's got a tear. He cuts a piece of adhesive tape and tenderly tends to the torn tender.
Cash repair is a vital service in Gaza.
YASSER ABU EIRBID: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: Cash repairman Abu Eirbid says, sometimes a single bill will change hands 10 times a day or more, and that leads to damage, wear and tear. He operates a literal money laundering service - cleaning musty cash.
ABU EIRBID: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: He says, "it seems the cash was stored or buried in the ground, possibly under the rubble of Israeli shelling, where it was exposed to moisture or rain."
Was this cash taken from the rubble of a bank destroyed in Israeli strikes? Was it stored in damp underground Hamas tunnels? Israel says Hamas has looted banks.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AVICHAY ADRAEE: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: In this video, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee presents what he says are Hamas documents detailing how its operatives stole more than $100 million worth of cash from banks. The Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank won't send new cash to Gaza's banks as long as there is war because of robberies and the risk, a Palestinian official tells NPR. He asked not to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. On top of that, many banks have been destroyed in Israeli strikes. Not a single bank or ATM is operating in Gaza today.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: So how do people get money? NPR producer Anas Baba stands outside a closed bank in central Gaza.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: I can see that there are some people here. They came to the bank not looking for the ATM or the bank. They're looking for the brokers, or the money mafia.
ESTRIN: The money mafia - brokers with their own cash reserves. One man outside the bank looking for a broker is Musab Al Shawwaf.
MUSAB AL SHAWWAF: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: He says, "we need to feed our children. The brokers are our last resort."
Here's how it works. He transfers money from his bank account online to the broker's account, and the broker gives him cash, but takes a 30% commission.
AL SHAWWAF: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: Shawwaf says, "the rate is very high. It's ruining me."
Because of the cash crisis, Palestinian banks are offering e-wallets - digital currency.
(SOUNDBITE OF CASH REGISTER BEEPING)
ESTRIN: At this grocery store in central Gaza, a customer pays with his e-wallet, but paying that way comes with a 10 to 15% charge. Producer Anas Baba peruses the store.
BABA: Not everything that you need is here on the shelves. It's, as usual, like, lentils, beans.
ESTRIN: It's hard to find food today. The United Nations says there's extreme hunger in Gaza. These days, there's a double struggle - the struggle to find basics, like baby formula for a child, and the struggle to find the money to pay for it.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, with producer Anas Baba in Gaza. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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