Palestinian Hamas members take part in an anti-Israel military show in the southern Gaza Strip, November 11, 2019. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
Published October 28, 2023
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has reportedly built up a months-long stockpile of food, fuel, and medical supplies as humanitarian resources for the Gaza Strip have dwindled, the New York Times reports.
“[T]here is substance to Israeli claims of Hamas stockpiling supplies, including desperately needed food and fuel,” the outlet explained. “The stockpiles are typically kept underground, they said, and cautioned that precise details on Hamas’s supplies were difficult to come by.”
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed into the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian border for the first time last week following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, which left over 1,000 civilians killed. Following the massacre, Israel laid siege to the territory and insisted forthcoming aid deliveries be verified to ensure products were not pilfered by the Palestinian terrorist organization.
However, there appear to be instances within the last several weeks of conflict where Hamas has done just that. A since-deleted statement from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) argued that Hamas looted a warehouse and stole fuel and medical supplies meant for Gazan refugees last week. The agency shortly after retracted the statement and explained that the disappearance of supplies represented merely “a movement of basic medical supplies from the UNRWA warehouse to health partners,” but did not specify which partners.
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SOURCE: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hamas-boasts-massive-stockpile-of-food-and-fuel-as-humanitarian-supplies-dwindle-in-gaza-report-edited/
RELATED: Hamas ‘hoards medicine and food’ as Palestinians go short of essentials
Palestinians wait at a water filling point to refill their containers amid mass shortages – Abed Rahim Khatib / Avalon/Avalon
Published October 28, 2023
Hamas has stockpiled vital fuel, medicines and food while ordinary Gazans are running short of essentials, according to reports.
Both Arab and Western officials have said Hamas has been stockpiling supplies for years, which it has stored in tunnels as it prepares for the possibility of a protracted war.
The terrorist group spent two decades building a labyrinthine network of underground tunnels, which are a central part of its defences.
The tunnel network is said to have entrances hidden beneath schools, mosques and houses and ia estimated to be 300 miles long with lighting, electricity and rail tracks for transport.
A senior Lebanese official said Hamas could fight for between three and four months without the need to resupply, the New York Times reported.
When hostage Yocheved Lifshitz was released by Hamas earlier this week, the 85-year-old told how her captors gave her food and personal hygiene supplies.
“They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo,” Ms Lifshitz said. “We ate the same food they did, pitas with cream cheese, melted cheese, cucumbers. That was a meal for an entire day.”
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SOURCE: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/28/hamas-gaza-israel-tunnels-supplies-fuel-food-hospitals-scho/
RELATED: As Gazans scrounge for food and water, Hamas sits on a rich trove of supplies
A heavily damaged gas station in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The government Hamas runs in Gaza says it has an emergency fuel stockpile that is quickly being depleted. Israel says Hamas has much more fuel on hand for its war. (Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times)
Published October 27, 2023
As supplies of virtually every basic human necessity dwindle in the Gaza Strip, one group in the besieged enclave remains well-stocked: Hamas.
Arab and Western officials say there is substance to Israeli claims of Hamas stockpiling supplies, including desperately needed food and fuel. Hamas, they say, has spent years building tunnels under the strip where it has amassed stores of virtually everything needed for a drawn-out fight. It is a reality that Israel may soon find itself grappling with if it makes good on its threat to invade Gaza.
Hamas has hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel for vehicles and rockets; caches of ammunition, explosives and materials to make more; and stockpiles of food, water and medicine, the officials said. A senior Lebanese official said Hamas, which is estimated to number between 35,000 and 40,000, had enough stocked away to keep fighting for three to four months without resupply.
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SOURCE: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/as-palestinians-scrounge-for-food-and-water-hamas-sits-on-a-rich-trove-of-supplies/
RELATED: Humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza… but fears grow Hamas will steal it for themselves: Biden warns terror group aid ‘will end’ if they confiscate goods intended to help two million civilians
Egypt agreed to reopen its northern border with Gaza to allow aid into Gaza
Israel Palestine news LIVE: Rishi Sunak arrives in Jewish state to hold talks
Published October 19, 2023
Egypt has agreed to reopen its northern border with Gaza to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn enclave — but there are growing fears Hamas will steal it for themselves or use it as cover to bring in more weapons.
More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tonnes of aid are now positioned at the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, to deliver food, water and medicine to the millions of civilians trapped there amid withering Israeli airstrikes.
But under the deal agreed by Egypt after intense talks with President Joe Biden yesterday, only 20 trucks with humanitarian aid will be allowed into the enclave from Friday at the earliest amid fears that Hamas will confiscate the supplies.
If Hamas terrorists do try to stop the much-needed aid from reaching Palestinian civilians, ‘it will stop’, Biden said during his visit to Tel Aviv where he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The supplies will go in under the supervision of the UN, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said, adding that before any aid can be moved, the road across the border that was cratered by Israeli airstrikes must be repaired.
The agreement marks the first crack in a punishing 10-day siege on the 25-mile enclave, which has largely been obliterated by Israeli airstrikes, and comes a day after a blast at a hospital killed hundreds and put immense strain on Gaza’s struggling medical system.
Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel ‘will not thwart’ the delivery of food, medicine and water from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas terrorists. His office made no mention of fuel, which is badly needed for hospital generators.
Israel fears that aid deliveries could be used as cover to bring in weapons, or could be diverted into the hands of Hamas.
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SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12648041/Humanitarian-supplies-enter-Gaza-fears-grow-Hamas-steal-Biden-warns-terror-group-aid-end-confiscate-goods-intended-help-two-million-civilians.html
