The Palestinian Chamber of Commerce said on Monday that importers in Gaza have been paying rents for Israel while the Jewish states refuse to let in their goods during the past two years.

The chamber said in a report that Israel withholds 1,757 containers in its seaports for Palestinian companies from the Gaza Strip and as a result, the importers paid US$10 million for Israeli warehouses since Israel sealed off the strip in June 2007.

According to the report, to keep a container in any Israeli warehouse, the monthly rent is 300 dollars. Most of the Palestinian companies, which were agents of international trademarks, have lost their agency contracts due to the Israeli restrictions.

Israel has closed the crossing points to the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas's violent takeover of the enclave and only allowed little more than humanitarian aid into the coastal strip.