Israel to resume commercial goods shipments into Gaza after Hamas fee dispute

Israel said on Monday it would resume allowing commercial goods shipments into Gaza after a days-long halt over a tax dispute involving Hamas and merchants, Reuters reported, restoring a key route for food and essentials to the aid-dependent enclave.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said it decided after merchants reported Hamas authorities had withdrawn demands for 10,000-shekel ($3,225) per truck payments. “The resumption of coordination is being carried out in accordance with Israel’s commitment to the humanitarian provisions of the ceasefire agreement,” it said.

COGAT said the merchants’ accounts had not been independently verified, and shipments would resume gradually, with essentials ahead of winter given priority. Oversight would be tightened so payments move only through documented bank transfers, with any merchant found to have paid Hamas facing exclusion.

Hamas said the 10,000-shekel fee was a voluntary contribution by better-off Gazans to a national fund supporting people in need in the territory.

Most Gazans remain dependent on aid after three years of war. While the US-brokered ceasefire halted the heaviest fighting, it has not ended Israeli attacks: local health officials said on Monday that at least five Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in separate Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis; the military did not immediately comment.

Gaza health officials say about 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October 2025 ceasefire; Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.