Food, medicine, fuel
Hamas is said to have stashed away supplies for months
October 28, 2023, 1:28 p.m
It is an accusation made by Israel that is confirmed by a report in the New York Times: Hamas is said to have stored, among other things, hundreds of thousands of liters of fuel in its tunnels – but it does not release any of it. “The Hamas movement only cares about the Hamas movement,” an analyst told the paper.
Arab and Western officials believe Israel’s allegations that Gaza’s ruling Hamas has stockpiled large amounts of food, medicine and fuel are justified, according to a report. Hamas has built dozens of kilometers of tunnels and stockpiled virtually everything it needs for a protracted battle, the US newspaper wrote “New York Times” citing experts. In addition to hundreds of thousands of liters of fuel for vehicles and rockets, the Hamas tunnels are also said to contain ammunition, explosives and raw materials for further production, as well as food, water and medicine.
A senior Lebanese official, who was not named, said Hamas had enough supplies to keep fighting for three to four months without resupply, according to the newspaper. According to the New York Times, neither Arab nor Western officials gave as detailed estimates of the quantities of supplies as the Israeli side.
“But they are very careful with what they have because they will use it for long periods of time,” Samir Ghattas, an Egyptian analyst who closely follows Gaza, told the newspaper. He said it was unlikely that Hamas would be willing to provide food or other aid to support the civilian population. “The Hamas movement only cares about the Hamas movement. The public in Gaza means absolutely nothing to Hamas.”
According to the UN, supplies for the civilian population in the sealed-off Gaza Strip have been very precarious since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th and Israel’s subsequent military response. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, 84 trucks carrying aid supplies from Egypt have crossed the border. However, 100 per day are necessary. Fuel is excluded from aid deliveries. Israel fears that it could fall into the hands of Hamas and be used, for example, to ventilate or light its tunnels. More than 2.2 million people live in the densely populated Gaza Strip.