Israel approves some fuel for UN trucks in Gaza, source says

 Palestinians use a donkey-drawn cart as a means of transportation, as the strip suffers from a lack of fuel, amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 31, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
Palestinians use a donkey-drawn cart as a means of transportation, as the strip suffers from a lack of fuel, amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 31, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

Israel has given approval for 24,000 litres (6,340 gallons) of diesel fuel to be used by trucks for United Nations operations in the Gaza Strip, a humanitarian source said on Tuesday.

Aid agencies in the enclave say a chronic lack of fuel has hampered efforts to deliver food, water and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza, under siege as Israel wages war against Hamas terrorists.

The fuel is only meant for UN trucks, and not for hospitals, the source said. The United States pressured the UN to accept the fuel, the source added.

No comment from IDF or Hamas 

The Israeli military had no immediate comment. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

It was not immediately clear how the fuel would be delivered.

 Palestinians cook on firewood, amid fuel and cooking gas shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2023.  (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
Palestinians cook on firewood, amid fuel and cooking gas shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

Citing US and Israeli sources, Axios reported that Israel plans to allow trucks used by the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in Gaza to refuel on Wednesday at the enclave's Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Gaza health officials have suspended operations at many of the enclave's hospitals due to lack of fuel and other supplies.

Colonel Moshe Terto, who heads an Israeli defence ministry body that handles civil affairs in Gaza, said Israel is monitoring the fuel situation "on a daily basis".

"(We) will coordinate and facilitate the entrance of fuel when it (is) needed," Terto said.