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Gazans enjoy breaking free from their economic isolation to enthusiastically buy the kinda junk I can procure in 5 minutes after a trip to the gas station across the street. Notice the scattered examples of basic microeconomics in the story linked, including price drops on cigarettes in Gaza City due to sudden competition, as well as price hikes on Egytptian goods due to the surge in demand.
Dry Hyphen Olympics 
>Are there any economic traditions that would offer other explanations? I am in a intellectual exploration mood.At this point, I agree with you though.