Water purifiers, medical supplies and tent poles: the people in the Gaza Strip desperately need them, but Israel is holding them back at the border. This is evident from a document from the Egyptian Red Crescent in the hands of the Reuters news agency. In total, Israel is said to have stopped 1,200 water purifiers, 100 oxygen cylinders, 1,000 solar cell items, 24 generators and 418 medical items.
Since before the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel has been blocking so-called ‘dual-use’ goods at the border: goods that can be used for both military and civilian purposes. But since the attack, control appears to have become stricter. If it could help Hamas in any way, it won’t get through.
Cogat, the Israeli organization that coordinates the delivery of aid to Gaza, denies Reuters’ reporting. “We do not refuse anything that falls under four categories: food, water, medical supplies and shelter. That all comes in every day.’
But doctors in Gaza hospitals tell Reuters that oxygen cylinders and X-ray machines are not reaching their destinations even though they are desperately needed. A Reuters reporter also saw tent canvases at a hospital, which, according to the hospital director, were delivered without poles. This would have happened with 150 tents, out of a total of 30 trucks with tents.
According to Reuters, the goods may be held back because there is no clear list of goods that may or may not be allowed through. When asked, Cogat referred to a public list from 2008 containing ten categories of dual-use goods, such as telecommunications, electronics and ‘advanced materials’.
Maarten Albers
