MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UN humanitarian aid in Gaza threatened by fuel problems

We don't have a timeline, Gallant insisted

United Nations (UN) humanitarian workers might be forced to halt their deployment in the Gaza Strip in the next few hours due to lack of fuel, as shelling and fighting continued near the northern border with Israel, it was reported.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the terrorist group Hamas had already “lost control” of Gaza. He also pointed out that civilians in the Palestinian enclave were looting their bases and no longer trusted their government.

Doctors and witnesses near the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City also said Israeli troops were already meters away from the entrance after having surrounded it over the weekend, with hundreds of doctors, patients, and displaced people trapped inside, with no electricity or food.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Al Shifa was “no longer functioning as a hospital” and US President Joseph Biden considered that Al Shifa should “be protected.”

Despite UN requests, Israel has argued that the arrival of fuel supply could benefit Hamas' operations.

“There are no Hamas forces capable of stopping the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF is advancing on all fronts. Hamas has lost control of Gaza. Terrorists are fleeing to the south. Civilians are looting Hamas bases. They no longer trust the government,” Gallant was quoted by The Times of Israel as saying while Israeli forces were advancing “according to plan and are carrying out their missions in a precise and lethal manner.”

“We work with targets. We don't have a timeline. We have aims. We are going to achieve our goals,” added Gallant, who is now able according to newly passed legislation, to label non-Israeli individuals or organizations as terrorists regardless of international categorizations.

The new amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act also broadens the definition of terrorism to include people who actively participate in financing or equipping an organization deemed of a terrorist nature regardless of their actual membership or enrolment. The law was passed after more than a month of war between Israel and Hamas since the latter infiltrated Israeli territory from Gaza and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7. Over 11,200 people were killed and 29,000 wounded by Israel's military deployment in Gaza.