The decision was taken in part to prevent the spread of diseases that could “harm” civilians and its own troops on the ground, an Israeli official said.
Israel is allowing two fuel trucks into Gaza each day to keep the besieged enclave’s water and sewage system operational, as its forces continue their air and ground siege of the territory.
Israel’s war cabinet said 140,000 liters (37,000 gallons) of fuel could enter every two days after receiving a “special request” from the United States.
Israel banned fuel supplies to Gaza when it launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip on October 7. Severe shortages have threatened aid deliveries and communications.
Tzachi Hanegbi, national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the fuel would be used to “operate the sewage and water systems run by UNRWA,” the United Nations refugee agency. Palestinians.
“We took this decision to prevent the spread of epidemics. We do not need epidemics that would harm civilians or our fighters. If there are outbreaks, the fighting will stop,” he said. Hanegbi called the quantity “very minimal.”
A US State Department official, giving further details, said Israel had committed to allowing the entry of 120,000 liters (31,700 gallons) of fuel every 48 hours for UNRWA trucks and other needs such as water desalination, wastewater pumping and for bakeries and hospitals in the south of the country. Gaza.
An additional 20,000 liters (5,300 gallons) every two days would be allowed to power generators at telecommunications company Paltel, which had warned of an imminent outage of its mobile phone network due to a lack of fuel.
But humanitarian groups say the fuel ration is far from sufficient.
Why allow fuel supply now?
Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Rory Challands said: “Tzachi Hanegbi is essentially justifying the authorization of this fuel trickle, for a domestic audience, as a means of maintaining the military operation in Gaza.
“He says that pandemics, if they break out, would not only affect the population of Gaza, but would also affect Israeli troops and harm their fighting capacity. And he also says that this decision essentially gives diplomatic space for Israel to continue its military offensive.
U.S. officials have been pushing Israel to allow the entry of fuel for some time. After weeks of not complying, “now Netanyahu’s government believes that granting this wish from the United States essentially means that these criticisms will begin to subside,” Challands said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called members of Israel’s war cabinet on Wednesday and warned that fuel shortages risked a humanitarian catastrophe among Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, a senior government official said. State Department.
But Israeli officials argue that Hamas should release the hostages before easing pressure on Gaza.
Challands said allowing fuel into Gaza is “incredibly unpopular among the far right” in Israel.
“They have the impression that while the fuel is being given to them, the captives are not being returned,” he said, noting that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that “this it makes no sense to offer humanitarian gifts to the enemy.”
Andreas Krieg, lecturer in security studies at King’s College London, told Tel Aviv Tribune that for Israel, this decision to allow limited fuel supplies to Gaza is not really “an act of empathy”.
“It’s more about them knowing that time is running out,” he said.
“They know that the international community, particularly Israel’s Western allies, is increasingly nervous about what Israel is doing. The Biden administration particularly wants this to end one way or another.”