Soaring gas prices worry households in Benin

The price of smuggled gasoline sold by roadside vendors in Benin has surged by nearly 60 percent since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.

Long seen as an affordable alternative, smuggled gas now weighs heavily on the budgets of households in the West African country. That has pushed some motorists to go further to fill up their tanks.

"The gas sold by the roadside comes from Nigeria, so its price has increased. It's currently at 700 or 800 CFA francs, so we prefer to come to the station where it's 680 CFA francs," said Alexandre Weke, an entrepreneur.

The rise in gas price has driven up costs in the transportation sector, commodity prices at local markets, and operating costs of small and medium-sized enterprises, impacting people's purchasing power.

"Nigeria has crude oil, and then they process that crude oil in the east. Because of the war, dozens of ships have been bombed at sea. They can no longer bring the crude oil there for processing and refining. As a result, those who have stocks in Nigeria have taken advantage of this to raise prices haphazardly. This is why we have seen this rise in the price of adulterated gas in Benin," said Henri Assogba, president of the National Association of Petrol Sellers.

According to economic analyst Gabin Aikin, this gas price increase is part of a broader context marked by tensions on the international hydrocarbon market and regional dynamics.He also pointed out that because of the nature of smuggled gas - an informal distribution channel, prices are particularly volatile and difficult to regulate.

"In major cities, prices range between 750 and 800 francs. But when we move away from the major cities and towards the outskirts, they can reach up to 900 francs per liter. This is not helping the population. There's also something that people haven't understood. There's a misleading rumor going around, especially among motorcycle taxis. They're spreading misinformation, claiming that gasoline prices have increased," he said.

Soaring gas prices worry households in Benin

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to protest against the government saying that it used the sense of emergency over the past six weeks after the U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran to move forward with its own bitterly-contested internal agenda.

Some of the restrictions for the demonstration were lifted earlier in the week after a ceasefire was announced between the United States and Iran.

"This is a terrible government, for the last three years working against its citizens all the time. We are protesting against the judicial reform that the government is imposing, anti-democratic moves, not to recruiting the orthodox people to the military," said Benny, a protester.

The resumption of the long-running corruption trial involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the debate over a controversial draft law, the even more controversial judiciary overhaul, none of them has gone anywhere.

With no imminent danger of missiles from Iran, at least for the short term, demonstrators here feel it is time to raise their voices.

"Everything has been turned so politically that instead of the country binding together, we just separate more and more. Plus in the background, the Netanyahu government is passing all sorts of non-democratic laws that only make the situation work," said Nancy, another protester.

The war may have taken a pause when it comes to central Israel but restrictions still apply.

Gatherings are allowed for up to 1,000 people although the police were told not to disperse the crowd even if numbers are bigger.

"I am not looking here to fight with the police. I hope they are not looking to fight with us and I believe that it will be a peaceful event," said Benny.

Israelis protest against gov't in Tel Aviv