An Israeli company hid thousands of cigarettes inside hundreds of pineapples – intending to smuggle them into Gaza as humanitarian aid. The head of COGAT ordered the immediate suspension of the company’s operating license.
On Wednesday, the Israeli border authority uncovered a massive smuggling operation at the Lachish crossing in southern Israel: Thousands of cigarettes had been hidden inside hundreds of pineapples, which were declared as approved humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. Inspectors from the Ministry of Defense’s border crossing authority discovered irregularities in a truck during a routine check and found the cigarettes inside the fruit.
The cargo had been purchased by an Israeli company authorized to transport goods to Gaza under the private humanitarian aid mechanism. The next stop would have been the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Following the discovery, authorities confiscated the truck and its entire cargo. COGAT chief Major General Yoram Halevi ordered the immediate suspension of the company’s operating license.
Smuggling attempt at the Lachinsh Crossing: thousands of cigarettes were found concealed inside hundreds of pineapples meant to reach Gaza today, hidden inside a shipment of aid from the private sector.
Major General Yoram Halevy, head of COGAT, ordered the immediate suspension… pic.twitter.com/A27Mub0q8w
— COGAT (@cogatonline) July 8, 2026
The incident fits a familiar pattern: Hamas and its affiliated networks systematically use humanitarian aid shipments to smuggle prohibited goods into Gaza – from tobacco and alcohol to machine oil in water bottles and explosives in food deliveries, as previous COGAT reports have documented. This discovery further reinforces Israel’s demand for strict controls on all aid supplies – a demand often misinterpreted internationally as a blockade, but which in reality serves to protect against precisely such abuses.
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