Gaza City (2007). Photo: wiki commons.

A story published last week by China’s Xinhua News Agency details a flourishing market for Chinese car imports in Gaza. Unlike in Israel, where the response to Chinese cars has remained tepid, demand has grown for models from Geely, JAC and Chery. The cars are assembled in Egypt and reach Gaza where they have become quite popular in both the taxi and private vehicle markets.

The article quotes one importer who says, “”New dual drive Chinese cars are cheaper in Gaza than 2008 Korean made models. These cars are spacious and very passenger friendly.”

Globes, which reported the Xinhua story, notes that no mention was made of how the cars reach Gaza, seeing as all land terminals are currently closed, but sources in the vehicle sector told the site that they believe the cars are driven to Gaza through “super tunnels” large enough for the assembled vehicles to travel through.

Below is a video that supposedly shows a car being smuggled into Gaza from 2010: