Gaza Shipments Resume After Hamas Fee Dispute

Israel said on Monday, October 19, that commercial shipments into Gaza would gradually resume after a days-long halt over a dispute involving Hamas and merchants. COGAT said it would tighten payment oversight after merchants reported that Hamas authorities had withdrawn demands for 10,000 shekels per truck. The agency said it couldn't independently verify those accounts.

Israeli strikes continue as the cease-fire remains contested. Reuters reported that Israel says Hamas has continued to rearm and carry out attacks in violation of the cease-fire, while Hamas accuses Israel of undermining it. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on strikes reported Monday.

The Shipment Dispute

COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said shipments would resume gradually, with essential goods prioritized ahead of winter. The agency said payments would have to move through documented bank transfers. Merchants found to have paid Hamas would be excluded from the system.

Hamas said the 10,000-shekel payments were voluntary contributions from better-off Gazans to a national fund supporting people in need. Gaza's Government Media Office rejected allegations that it imposed taxes or fees on commercial trucks, accused Israel of using the claims to justify restrictions, and called for 600 trucks to enter daily.

COGAT said it hadn't independently verified the merchants' accounts. So the dispute rests on competing accounts: the Israeli agency described reported payment demands, while Hamas called the money voluntary contributions and Gaza's Government Media Office denied imposing fees.

Aid Cuts and Funding Shortfall

The World Food Programme said it would end monthly assistance to 500,000 people in Gaza because of a funding shortfall and reduce support for others. It said 1.1 million Palestinians, about half Gaza's population, would continue to receive food or cash assistance each month, though in reduced amounts.

WFP country director Shaun Hughes spoke in East Jerusalem: “People are not safe. Airstrikes continue daily. People remain displaced.” He added: “Almost everyone remains without a permanent home. The humanitarian conditions are brutal.” Latest assessments showed 1.4 million people, two-thirds of Gaza's population, remained “acutely food insecure” and needed humanitarian aid to survive, Hughes said.

Families receiving food assistance will get one food parcel, not two, and a smaller bag of wheat flour. The 75,000 families receiving cash assistance will see monthly payments drop from 1,250 to 750 shekels, or from $400 to $240.

The WFP said it needs about $450 million over the next six months for operations in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but has received only about half the usual funding for the Palestinian territories this year. The agency said its resources fell sharply, including after President Donald Trump's administration drastically cut contributions to U.N. agencies and bilateral aid. In September, it halved the number of aid recipients in the West Bank from 400,000 to 200,000.

Hughes said the reduction didn't stem from a lack of access to deliver food. “That's not because we don't have humanitarian access to deliver food; that's because we don't have funding,” he said. The WFP said conditions had moderately improved, but needs could rise with winter.

Strikes and Conflicting Claims

Local health officials said at least five Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, died in separate strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis on Monday. Gaza health officials said Israeli fire had killed about 1,500 Palestinians since the October 2025 cease-fire; Israel said militants had killed four of its soldiers in Gaza over the same period.

The WFP said its efforts mitigated the effects of famine conditions reported in Gaza last August by the U.N. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Israel disputed that finding and called it a lie. Israel allows more goods under the cease-fire but continues heavy restrictions, turning away shipments of items it alleges have military uses, including prosthetic limbs, the United Nations says. Israel has accused the United Nations of bias and of perpetuating Palestinian dependency.