Fuel if allowed by Israel will only enter south Gaza, says US envoy

While no fuel has been supplied into Gaza since the start of ground offensive by Israeli military, if allowed, it is expected to enter only south Gaza, Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield has said. The latter reportedly informed that there’s currently an agreed mechanism in place to get the fuel to the hospitals and the civilian facilities in a way that it cannot be confiscated by the terrorists of Hamas.

“Fuel, which existed in depots accessible to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), that existed in Gaza prior to October 7, has been accessed by UNRWA for purposes of trucks, delivery of assistance that is from Rafah terminal to distribution points, for desalinization plant operation, and for delivery to hospitals in the South. That has been going on for pretty much the last week,” Satterfield was reported as saying.

Israeli government accused Hamas of hoarding and diverting fuel, and using it for the purpose of ramping up the assaults into the Israel’s border towns. During his visit to Tel Aviv earlier yesterday,  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel ‘raised appropriate concerns, concerns that we share, about Hamas’s hoarding and syphoning of fuel in northern Gaza.’

“Again, its cynicism knows no bounds, denying fuel itself that it has to hospitals and other places that desperately need it. In meetings with regional partners, I’ll continue conversations about getting assistance to flow, including with help from the United Nations,” Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv ahead of travelling to Amman where he met with the Arab partners.

Hamas creating hurdles in foreign nationals' evacuation?

US officials have reportedly said that they were currently not aware of any instances of Hamas diverting any humanitarian assistance that entered Gaza via the Rafah Crossing. “Aid workers in the field have not reported interdiction of or seizure of goods by Hamas,” an official familiar with the development reportedly noted. 

IDF, however, said in a statement that Hamas terrorists have been blocking foreign nationals from leaving the Gaza strip, and reading hurdles in the evacuation process of the foreign passport holders. The latter insisted that Hamas also attempted to slip some of its wounded fighters onto a list of people approved to cross into Egypt at the Rafah crossing. Such measures have been contributing to a slowed effort this week to evacuate hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians, as per the US officials.

In a televised address, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said that he outrightly rejected any temporary ceasefire in fight against Hamas unless the hostages were released.