TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it delivered 300 liters of fuel to a collection point near the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, but that Hamas will not allow hospital staff to retrieve the fuel, which is apparently necessary for the hospital.
In a statement, the Israeli government said:
The IDF provided 300 liters of fuel for urgent medical purposes for the Shifa Hospital; Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel
Last night, the IDF coordinated the transfer of fuel for urgent medical use to the Shifa Hospital.
Early in the morning, IDF troops arrived at the entrance of the hospital and placed 300 liters of fuel for urgent medical purposes.
…
Later, the IDF received evidence that Hamas officials prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.
The IDF provided journalists with two recordings: one “between a senior Israeli official at the Coordination and Liaison Headquarters and a senior Gazan official at the Shifa Hospital, coordinating the delivery of fuel to the hospital’s entrance”; and another conversation “between an IDF officer and a senior official in the health ministry in Gaza who states that the CEO of the Hamas Health Ministry, Yosef Abu Rish, forbade them and prevented them from receiving the fuel.”
Throughout the war, Israel has provided evidence of Hamas using hospitals for terrorist purposes, and hoarding fuel that is needed by hospitals and other civilian users. Hamas is known to have major facilities underground beneath the Shifa Hospital, which is being evacuated.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.