A Gaza Strip businessman was forced to shutter his gas canister factory – which he had run for 30 years, and which employed 45 workers – after Hamas authorities discovered that he was painting his gas canisters silver. Gas canisters painted silver, it turns out, are too Israeli to be allowed into the Hamas-controlled territory:

Factory owner Yousif Sharaf told Ma’an that the authorities sealed off his factory, which produces domestic gas canisters, after inspectors found three canisters painted silver. “Silver canisters are banned in Gaza because they are produced in Israel…” Sharaf said.

Gaza economy ministry officials said that they implement their decisions according to set standards and regulations… “He was informed he must stick to Palestinian standards, but he breached them by painting canisters in unaccepted color,” he added.

In recent months, Hamas has adopted policies to assert greater control over Gaza’s economy. In January, it extended its ban on importing certain goods from Israel. In March, the group took control of the Kerem Shalom crossing, likely a gambit to collect customs payments that had been going to the Palestinian Authority.

The decision to shut down the gas canister factory is likely to be criticized as arbitrary, given the ubiquity of Israeli products in the Gaza Strip and the tonnage of goods that Israel sends to the territory.

[Photo: AFP / YouTube]