An Israeli army spokesman blamed the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for the lack of fuel in Gaza hospitals claiming it is storing large quantities.
“Hamas has stored more than 1 million liters of fuel in Gaza but is not providing it to hospitals in need. Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza, not Israel,” said the spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, via X (formerly Twitter).
However, in an interview with the CNN television network, quoted in his post, the official said that Hamas has stored a thousand liters of fuel, not 1 million liters.
He was reacting to UN warnings and complaints that fuel had not yet reached the Gaza Strip despite the delivery of humanitarian aid through the border crossing at Rafah, on the border with Egypt.
“The fuel we want to get in is the fuel used by UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). It is needed for our operations. And obviously, there is also a need for fuel in the hospitals and so on,” UN spokesman Stefan Dujarik told the press on Monday.
The Israeli military has laid a “siege” to the Gaza Strip, cutting off water, electricity, food, medicine, fuel, and other essential deliveries as part of retaliatory operations following Hamas’ deadliest-ever attack on Israeli territory on October 7.