On Monday, we ran an editorial detailing how Hamas, which has been in sole control of Gaza since 2007, should be the one to blame for problems in Gaza that are triggering calls for a “cease-fire.” Today, NBC reports:
As U.N. officials say hospitals in Gaza are running dangerously low on fuel, Hamas is maintaining a stockpile of more than 200,000 gallons of fuel for the rockets it fires into Israel and the generators that provide clean air and electricity to its network of underground tunnels, according to U.S. officials, current and former Israeli officials and academics.
The statements come as President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian pause in Gaza and U.N. officials warned that aid agencies, water treatment plants and bakeries there may soon run out of fuel. Israel, which has allowed a limited number of trucks carrying food, water and medicine into the enclave, continues to ban deliveries of fuel, which it says Hamas will use for military purposes.
Hamas, meanwhile, has repeatedly demanded fuel deliveries to Gaza during negotiations to allow foreign nationals to leave the enclave and in talks about the release of 240 people it kidnapped.
While the calls for Israel to allow fuel into Gaza grow louder, the same voices remain silent when it comes to demanding that Hamas share fuel with the population that it is supposed to be governing.