After US intervention, Israel agreed to allow two fuel trucks every two days into Gaza to be used to fuel aid vehicles and communications networks.
Communications networks in Gaza were down for more than a day after the strip’s telecommunications companies ran out of fuel to generate power to run the phone or the internet. The signal has since been partially restored, two companies say, after some fuel was delivered.
However, aid groups are warning that this amount is not enough to carry out their humanitarian operations, amid growing fears that people will starve as they desperately search for food.
The agreement to supply fuel from Israel
Israel’s war cabinet agreed to allow 140,000 liters (36,985 gallons) of fuel to be brought into the strip every two days. An Israeli official, who declined to be named, told Al Jazeera that two trucks a day would be allowed in to meet UN needs, but said that amount would provide “minimal” support to water, sanitation and hygiene systems in Gauze to prevent pandemics.
Also, a US State Department official said Israel had committed to allowing in 120,000 liters (31,700 gallons) of fuel every 48 hours for UNRWA trucks and other needs such as water desalination, sewage pumping, bakeries and the hospitals in the southern part of Gaza.
An extra 20,000 liters (5,280 gallons) every two days will be allowed to power the generators of telecom company Paltel, which has warned of an imminent blackout on its mobile phone network due to a lack of fuel.
The entire quantity was not delivered, the UN says
On Friday, he sent the first truck through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. This truck was handed over to the UN in order to “facilitate the delivery of aid, since the trucks from the Palestinian side stopped working due to lack of fuel.”
For their part, the United Nations reports that they have not even received enough fuel. It is unclear whether he received the full amount imported from Egypt.
“That’s the equivalent of half a truck! Not quite enough. They need a lot more. Fuel is being used as a weapon of war, this must stop,” UNRWA reports to X.
In a separate post, UNRWA confirmed it had received 23,027 liters (6,083 gallons) of fuel, saying it covered only “nine percent” of the agency’s daily needs to continue rescue work.
“The amount of aid we’re getting into📍#Gaza right now is not meeting the need – not even by a long shot”@TomWhiteGaza tells @BBCNews our aid operation & delivery of humanitarian supplies have been compounded by the fact that we do not have fuel & need a humanitarian ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/r8HC2ERH9a
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 17, 2023
“Serious mistake” the fuel supply agreement, say the far-right
The far-right parties in Israel’s Knesset describe as wrong the decision to transport fuel to Gaza. Part of the issue is that this fuel was supposed to be used as a “bargaining tool” to facilitate the release of the captives.
In fact, an Al Jazeera reporter reported that “They are incredibly unpopular among the far-right … they feel that while the fuel is given, the captives are not returned,” he added.
For his part, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, said that this move is “wrong”, adding that “it makes no sense to give the enemy humanitarian gifts”, until all the prisoners are released.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the decision a “serious mistake” that “gives oxygen to the enemy.” Avigdor Liberman, head of a nationalist right-wing party, called on the cabinet to “stop this recklessness immediately”.
Earlier this week, the World Food Program confirmed the closure of the only remaining bakery operating in the strip and the interruption of aid deliveries due to fuel shortages.
Source: in.gr
