Do recipients of aid usually have to pay for it?

[BaMamma]

This confuses me. Gaza has no economy to speak of right now, and the only trucks getting in are aid trucks, so why do I see reports mention that the price of flour has gone up in the last few days?

Do recipients of aid usually have to pay for it, hasn't the aid already been paid for?

Hamas intercept it and then it's sold to the people. Well hamas need to keep topping up the bank accounts in Qatar etc, weapons to buy and terrorism to continue.

It is free but hamas don't care

That's pretty much what I thought.

Don't the pro-Palestinians, sending money to Gaza, mind?

Thank goodness Israel have changed the terms of the ceasefire and stopped allowing aid in so Hamas won't be able to get it. (Civilians won't either but it's a small price to pay)

Not really, but it does seem a lot like Hamas is contributing to the problem when they should be providing aid to the people.

Not really, but it does seem a lot like Hamas is contributing to the problem when they should be providing aid to the people.

I’ve been wondering about that too, OP.
There’ve been reels on social media in the last couple of weeks showing fully stocked supermarkets and plentiful markets, so it wasn’t quite clear how exactly it worked.

Do you think it's acceptable that Israel have paused all humanitarian relief?

Does anyone have any sources that confirm Hamas is seizing aid? Are we sure this isn't just a way for Israel to justify cutting off aid to civilians?

Can you explain why Palestinians are paying for the aid they receive? Who do you think they are paying for the aid, and what is the mechanism for this?

Serious questions, please think about them.

There is no evidence for Hamas stealing aid according to the UN and aid workers who coordinate it, receive it and distribute it:
”Price of food skyrockets after Israel closes Gaza’s borders, UN says
Foods like flour and vegetables are 100 times more expensive in Gaza than before Israel halted all food from entering a day earlier, the United Nations says.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the price increases were reported by the U.N.’s humanitarian partners on the ground Monday who are currently assessing stocks that are still available in the Gaza Strip.
Dujarric said the United Nations has not received reports that militants or other groups were diverting aid meant for civilians. “What we have seen since the ceasefire is a much freer and more direct flow of aid, and we have not seen any of the looting that we had seen prior to the ceasefire,” he told reporters.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of selling aid and preventing Palestinians from getting it.”
https://apnews.com/article/mideast-gaza-israel-hamas-war-latest-03-03-2025-ee7d0cc67149ee6ef79daaa4abd3d98f

Aid is free, but Israel has restricted and blocked aid so that the import of more food is necessary to feed everyone.

Over half the food going into Gaza was bought from private commercial businesses by Palestinians, including Hamas, on the black market for the first year of the war:
https://www.ft.com/content/2073f54c-91ae-4d00-99f4-eeabf7bc4917

This situation was caused by restricting aid. If aid had been let in freely as required by international law, then the poorest Palestinians would not be dependent on Hamas for their next meal and Hamas could not use food as a recruitment tool. Even if there were no law requiring humanitarian aid be let in freely, it is a poor military strategy to limit aid as it only strengthens Hamas at the expense of the Palestinians who are for peace.

@BaMamma Who is claiming Palestinians are paying for aid?

They aren’t paying for food aid.

I'm reading between the lines:

There is no economic activity due to the war,
the only supplies getting in (as far as I'm aware) are aid,
the cost of a bag of flour has more than doubled.

How do you explain this?

You seem to think that the only food in Gaza is from aid agencies. It's not. A limited amount of food is still entering Gaza as it used to, and is still being sold as it used to. It's just that there's not enough of it, and many people have little or no money to buy it. Which is where the aid comes in.

How else is food getting into Gaza? I don't get the impression it would be easy to make food deliveries under the current conditions.

Ok, you are NOW aware that the food supplies getting in were not just aid. What is there left to explain?

So, it's just profiteering unconnected to Hamas that's driving the prices up.

No. It's the shortage of food that's driving prices up. Supply and demand.

I recommend Imshin on X.

She reposts videos made by Gazans. A few from today say that as soon as it was announced the merchants put the prices up even though there’s plenty still for sale. Hamas is criticised but that can end up getting you a beating or shot.

Lots of videos currently showing Ramadan celebrations.

https://x.com/imshin/status/1896532459539337375?s=46&t=OcT4uVFDgKzZK5bQN0DMLw

Where do their power supplies come from as well and water and petrol?

Fascinating, "he complains that merchants in Gaza put prices up the moment the border crossings closed. "Who will stand with us if we don't stand with each other?" he asks, adding that the merchants are worse than garbage."

I recall an article in The Telegraph a while back

"An elderly woman in Gaza has accused Hamas of stealing aid which was meant for refugees forced to leave their homes during Israel’s offensive.
In an interview this week, the unnamed woman told Al-Jazeera: “All the aid goes [to the tunnels] underground.
“All the aid is meant for us.”
Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free

The shortages must be very localised as there are massive supermarkets as well as markets fully stocked with food. The food isn’t what I would term “essential” ie there’s plenty of sweets, ice cream, fizzy drinks and plenty to celebrate Ramadan. Restaurants and street sellers operating too. It’s difficult to see how there are people starving while others are going it for ice cream.

Report on criminal gangs in Gaza- some aid was looted and it was by these gangs (who are not Hamas) according to COGAT (IDF).
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/in-lawless-gaza-cigarette-smuggling-fuels-attacks-on-aid-trucks/ar-BB1pAKZ0

OP you have made a number of threads now about Gaza, why are you confused? After all these threads surely you must have looked it up?