Transportation connections to Israel are starting to fray as the region braces for a potential wider war with Hamas. Passenger airlines have suspended scores of flights into Israel and airfreight operations have thinned out. The WSJ’s Alison Sider and Benjamin Katz report that the cancellations have left people seeking to leave the country contending with fewer flights and sky-high ticket prices, and in some cases resorting to chartering private jets. Although Israeli airspace remains open, carriers say they are concerned about rocket fire and the risk their crews could be stranded. Israel’s El Al is now the last airline offering scheduled flights between Israel and much of the rest of the world. Among freight operators, FedEx resumed flights that it had halted while United Parcel Service operations remained suspended. UPS said in a customer notice, “Our focus is on safety while we work to minimize disruption to our customers.”

• Follow the WSJ’s live coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas here. 
• ZIM Integrated Shipping Services will charge a war-risk fee for shipments to and from Israel. (ShippingWatch)
• Maersk Line says its operations at Israel’s major ports are running normally. (India Shipping News)
• Israeli lawmakers are preparing to extend $5 billion in wartime insurance guarantees to Israeli airlines. (Times of Israel)

The conflict in Israel and rising tensions across the Middle East are raising risks to global oil markets just as demand is on the rise. Brent crude prices shot above $90 a barrel earlier this week, following Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel even though neither Israel nor the Palestinian territories are major oil producers. The WSJ’s Yusuf Khan reports that the International Energy Agency says a sharp escalation in geopolitical tensions in a region that accounts for a third of seaborne oil trade has put markets on edge. Analysts point to worries that any ripple effects of the conflict could affect some of the region’s major producers, tightening supply. The IEA projects global oil demand will reach a record high of 101.9 million barrels a day, on average, this year. But the agency lowered its demand growth outlook for 2024 on expectations that the strong postpandemic economic rebound will start to wane.

• The U.S. and Qatar will deny Iran access to $6 billion in oil proceeds amid concerns for Tehran’s support of Hamas. (WSJ)
• European gas prices hit their highest point since March amid fears over disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. (Financial Times)

The U.S. is cracking down on ships violating sanctions on Russian crude. The Treasury Department hit two oil tankers and their owners with blocking sanctions and said they had carried Russian oil above the West’s price cap of $60 a barrel. The WSJ’s Andrew Duehren and Joe Wallace report that it is the first time the Biden administration has punished market participants for violating the rules. The Treasury Department said it was targeting one ship with a registered owner in the United Arab Emirates and one with a registered owner in Turkey. Russian oil has traded well above the $60-a-barrel limit since late July, and some traders and analysts had started to believe that the U.S. wouldn’t harshly enforce the sanctions to avoid upsetting oil markets. A strong enforcement push could leave Russian oil without a path to global markets, squeezing worldwide supplies and raising oil prices.

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% on month in September and were up 3.7% on an annual basis. (WSJ)

Apple’s key suppliers in Taiwan saw another major sales drop in September. (Bloomberg)

A severe drought in the Brazilian Amazon is stranding vessels, disrupting transport and isolating villages. (BBC)

Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing plans to open 80 stores a year in the greater China region and 20 in the U.S. (Reuters)

CMA CGM will spend $600 million to boost capacity at its recently acquired Port of New York and New Jersey terminal operation. (The Loadstar)

Alphaliner says Maersk Line is preparing to order up to 15 smaller containerships with methanol-fuel capability. (Splash 247)

Greek shipping magnate George Economou launched an effort to buy out Nasdaq-listed ship owner Performance Shipping. (Lloyd’s List)

Daily rates for mid-size suezmax tankers doubled over one day. (TradeWinds)

Maersk Line will install SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet on its fleet of more than 330 containerships. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Prologis will pay $184 million to buy a 170-acre Arizona logistics park outside Phoenix. (Real Deal)

JLL says the push for faster deliveries is spurring demand for multistory warehouses in cities. (Journal of Commerce)

Tri-Cities Intermodal plans to launch refrigerated transport service from a former Union Pacific temperature-controlled warehouse in central Washington state. (Trains)

Supply-chain software provider Blue Yonder is acquiring U.K. first- and last-mile technology business Doddle. (DC Velocity)

• Israel’s large cybersecurity base is mobilizing to protect the country’s digital borders from hackers.
• Members of Israel’s technology sector are reeling from the unfolding war, while trying to keep their businesses going as executives and employees join the fight.
• Opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt gained court approval for a plan that wipes out more than $1 billion of payments meant for addicts while handing control of the company to its lenders.
• Attracting compliance workers is harder than ever for crypto firms—just when the industry needs them the most.

Family Dollar reopened a Memphis-area distribution center that had been closed by a rat infestation. An item in Thursday's newsletter misidentified the company. 

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.