From disposable to priceless: How lighters became a luxury in Gaza under Israeli blockade

For Palestinians in Gaza, a lighter was once an inexpensive, easily replaced item, sold for less than US$1. No one thought twice about losing one, throwing it away, or replacing it when it stopped working.

But after nearly three years of Israeli genocidal war, this small object has become a scarce commodity, with some lighters now selling for as much as US$50.

Israel's genocide has reshaped life in Gaza, making a lighter essential as cooking gas is scarce, electricity sporadic, and firewood is a necessity for cooking and heating water.

The shortage has forced Palestinians to change the way they treat even the smallest household items. Lighters are now borrowed between neighbours, carefully stored, repaired when damaged and stripped for spare parts rather than discarded.

Since October 2023, Israel has launched its genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 173,000 Palestinians and wounding over 180,000.

More than 85 per cent of buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli attacks, while more than 90 per cent of the Palestinian population has been displaced, many living in tents without adequate access to basic necessities.

As supplies entering the Strip have dwindled, shortages have spread beyond food, medicine, and fuel to everyday goods once taken for granted.

A lighter worth protecting

In one of the displacement camps west of Gaza City, Hanaa Abu Samra, 41, keeps a small lighter inside a plastic box, careful not to leave it outside her tent.

The lighter has become one of the possessions her family tries hardest to preserve after finding a replacement became difficult and expensive.

"The lighter has become more important than we ever imagined," Abu Samra told The New Arab. "When we want to light a firewood fire or cook food, we look for it first. If a neighbour has one, we wait until they finish using it."

Abu Samra and her children have lived in a tent since being displaced from northern Gaza. Her family relies on firewood and other available materials to cook because obtaining cooking gas has become increasingly difficult.

"Before the war, anyone could buy a lighter from the nearby grocery store," she said. "We didn't care if it was lost or broken because it was inexpensive. Now, if we lose one, we feel like we've lost something we can't easily replace."

The need for lighters extends beyond cooking. Palestinians use them to ignite firewood, paper and makeshift stoves as the fuel and energy crisis continues to affect almost every aspect of daily life.

In a popular market in central Gaza City, Samer al-Najjar, 36, stands before a vendor holding an old lighter that no longer works properly.

"I have had this lighter for a long time […] I am trying to repair it instead of buying a new one, because the price has become beyond my means," he told TNA.

Al-Najjar said Palestinians increasingly borrow or exchange lighters, particularly in displacement camps where large numbers of families live in close quarters.

"We never imagined we would reach a point where we would have to borrow a lighter from our neighbors," he added. "The war has made many things that were once commonplace in our lives difficult and rare."

Repairing what was once disposable

The shortage has also created an unexpected livelihood for some Palestinians.

Iyad al-Shawa, 39, has turned lighter repair into a small profession, helping support his family amid the collapse of traditional sources of income.

Before the war, al-Shawa repaired household appliances. But widespread business closures and declining purchasing power forced him to search for another source of income.

As demand for lighter repairs increased, he began learning how to dismantle and reassemble the devices, salvaging parts from damaged lighters.

Al-Shawa now sits in a small corner of a Gaza City market with a box containing dozens of old lighters and the basic tools he uses to repair them.

"Before, no one would come to me to repair a lighter […] People would just buy a new one and be done with it. Now, people keep every old lighter they can find and try to fix it," he told TNA.

"Sometimes someone comes in with a lighter that's years old and asks me to make it work somehow, because they can't afford to buy a new one," he said.

Al-Shawa collects broken lighters and dismantles them for usable parts, including flints and other components that can help restore damaged devices.

He added that repair costs vary by the type of damage but generally remain lower than the cost of buying a new lighter, making his work increasingly sought after.

"The war has made people reuse everything," he said. "Things that used to be thrown away now have value, and lighters are one of them."

It is not only repair workers who have adapted. Palestinians say they now keep old lighters even after they stop working, hoping to find replacement parts or someone who can restore them.

Economic expert Mohammed Barabakh told TNA that the shortage of lighters is a small but revealing example of the wider disruption to the flow of goods into Gaza.

He said shortages are no longer limited to food, medicine and fuel but have extended to everyday items that were once widely available.

Before Israel's war, Gaza received shipments of lighters roughly every month or two, totalling around three million lighters, as the quantities were sufficient to meet demand among Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave, according to Barabakh.

Today, he said there are no regular commercial shipments carrying lighters into Gaza.

"There are only limited quantities that arrive through unofficial channels or are brought in by individuals, leaving supplies far below demand," he added.

He explained that the lack of regular commercial supplies has widened the gap between supply and demand, contributing to price increases and creating opportunities for speculation and informal trading within Gaza.