Israel is now allowing fuel to enter Gaza on a daily basis after pressure from the Biden administration.
The short version is that Israel wanted to use fuel as part of a hostage deal, but Blinken contacted Ministers Benny Gantz and Ron Dermer and told them the Gazan people can’t wait any longer and said the US expects fuel to begin entering Gaza, as Israel promised would happen.
The IDF will monitor the fuel to ensure it doesn’t fall into the hands of Hamas.
Here’s the longer version via Axios:
The Israeli war cabinet late Thursday approved a plan to allow the entry of fuel into the southern Gaza Strip from Egypt following strong pressure from the Biden administration, two Israeli and U.S. officials said.
It is the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that Israel will allow a significant amount of fuel into Gaza on a regular basis.
Israel earlier this week allowed a limited supply of fuel to be used to refuel trucks the UN uses to deliver humanitarian aid. The UN said, however, it wasn’t near enough to fulfill the needs in Gaza.
A senior Israeli official said the decision will allow Israel to get the “international maneuvering space needed to destroy Hamas.”
About 60,000 liters of fuel will be allowed to enter the Strip through the Rafah border crossing every day in two UN fuel tankers and will be delivered under UN supervision to civilian facilities in southern Gaza, an Israeli official said.
“This decision is meant to allow the operation of water, sewage and sanitation systems in southern Gaza in order to prevent the spread of disease that will harm the civilian population,” the Israeli official added.
According to a second Israeli official, the amount of fuel that will enter the Gaza Strip is still pretty limited. Before the war, nearly 7 million liters of fuel entered the enclave every week.
The two Israeli officials said the IDF will monitor the supply of fuel to make sure it doesn’t reach Hamas.
The first fuel delivery took place on Friday, according to an Israeli official.
Pressure from the Biden administration…
Two U.S. officials said Israel promised the Biden administration at a high level two weeks ago that it would allow fuel into Gaza.
But as time went on without the fuel, anger mounted in Washington and pressure built on Israel to fulfill its commitment, two U.S. officials said.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken, U.S. humanitarian envoy David Satterfield and other senior Biden administration officials spoke about the need for fuel with Israeli officials several times in recent days, accourding to the sources.
Ahead of a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet on Thursday, Blinken pressed the Israelis again. He called Ministers Benny Gantz and Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s close confidant, and told them the U.S. expects the cabinet to approve the fuel supply, the U.S. and Israeli officials say.
A senior U.S. official said Israel wanted to allow fuel in as part of a hostage deal but the Biden administration made it clear Israel can’t wait for such a deal to emerge while people in Gaza could be dying because of shortage of fuel.
I hope they are able to keep the fuel out of the hands of Hamas. The IDF has reached as far south as al-Shifa hospital, but that’s still in north Gaza so it will be a huge feat if they can keep it out of the hands of Hamas. I have my doubts…