Gaza Vendors Sell Molokhia Cigarettes Mixed with Liquid Nicotine as Tobacco Prices Rise

Vendors in central Gaza City sell cigarettes made from dried molokhia leaves mixed with liquid nicotine at an informal market next to a waste dump along a dusty road. Sellers crush the leaves, add a drop of liquid nicotine, and roll the mixture into thin paper. Alaa Jundiya, 27, a father of two who lost his carpentry job at the start of the war, buys the substitute cigarettes.

He said a tobacco cigarette now costs 100 shekels ($34). 15); prices have reached 500 or 600 shekels ($171 or $205). Jundiya experienced severe skin irritation and four hours of unconsciousness when liquid nicotine from a broken syringe leaked onto his skin.

He said he carries the syringe in his pocket and has heard of similar injuries in the market. Doctors in respiratory and cardiac departments have reported cases of suffocation, breathing difficulties, and facial discolouration linked to smoking molokhia cigarettes.

Dr Ahmed Saeed al-Jadba, a consultant ear, nose and throat specialist, said burning molokhia mixed with liquid nicotine and possibly industrial substances releases toxic gases including carbon monoxide and tar.

Dr al-Jadba added that many patients suffer from severe coughing, hoarseness, dark or yellow phlegm, and some have pre-cancerous lesions on the vocal cords. Abdul Karim Heles, 36, from Shujayea and now displaced in western Gaza City, has sold tobacco for years and has no other profession. He said he knows two people who died instantly after consuming nicotine.

He explained that molokhia holds liquid nicotine better than other herbs, which is why it has become the most commonly used base. Hassan Hujan, 40, has smoked since 2017 and now buys molokhia cigarettes. He wakes daily with shortness of breath and dark phlegm.