Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CNN host Wolf Blitzer that despite concerns raised by humanitarian groups, there is fuel in Gaza — but like everything else in Gaza, it is controlled by Hamas and will not be used to aid struggling civilians.
Conricus explained that even though civilians in Gaza — and even hospitals — were without food and medical supplies, Hamas-controlled fuel stores would not be used to assist in getting humanitarian aid to the places were it was most needed.
WATCH:
Hamas has stockpiled more than 1M Liters of fuel in Gaza, but is not providing it to hospitals in need. Hamas is accountable for the suffering in Gaza, not Israel. @wolfblitzer pic.twitter.com/qBNbpmU3sI
— Jonathan Conricus (@jconricus) October 23, 2023
“Hamas has fuel, Hamas has quite a lot of fuel,” Conricus said. “They can decide where to use that fuel. And I find it strikingly absent from the discussion, from many discussions, what is Hamas doing with the resources that it has? It’s only about Israel, and Egypt, and UN, and international organizations.”
“What about Hamas? Why aren’t the questions posed to Hamas?” he continued. “Why don’t you use some of the fuel that you have stockpiled and hoarded in advance of this situation and use it for the civilians?”
Blitzer asked for clarification then, saying that he understood Conricus to mean that Hamas had fuel on hand, but would not make it available to the civilian population — and Conricus quickly confirmed that was what he meant.
“They are using these poor civilians, which are not our enemy and are not our target, they’re using them cynically, just in order to milk every drop of international pity and legitimacy for their horrific activities, and they’re using their own civilians to do it,” he added.
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“Hamas has fuel and Hamas should use the fuel not to fight against Israel, but really to care about the civilians that they are responsible,” he concluded.
The IDF made a similar point on X, responding to a plea from the United Nations for more fuel for Gaza by suggesting that they should borrow whatever they needed from Hamas.
The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency shared a dire warning on Tuesday, saying that all relief operations in Gaza would come to a halt by Wednesday night if they were unable to get fuel.
🛑@UNRWA warning: If we do not get fuel urgently, we will be forced to halt our operations in the📍#GazaStrip as of tomorrow night.
🆘 @UN agency says its #Gaza operation will end tomorrow 'if we don't get fuel'@JulietteTouma @BBCNews https://t.co/JfQLPwmSGb
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 24, 2023
“These fuel tanks are inside Gaza. They contain more than 500,000 liters of fuel. Ask Hamas if you can have some,” the IDF replied, sharing an aerial photo of the tanks.
These fuel tanks are inside Gaza.
They contain more than 500,000 liters of fuel.
Ask Hamas if you can have some. https://t.co/Dlag6VdbMq pic.twitter.com/WXzZMFr8yI
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 24, 2023