A first consignment of fuel has entered Gaza after Israel bowed to US pressure for limited deliveries to allow wastewater treatment and the resumption of communications after a two-day blackout.<\/p>\n
The first delivery arrived from Egypt late Friday as UN officials warned of an increasingly desperate situation for 2.4 million Palestinians, and pleaded for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
On the ground though, Israel pressed its offensive, combing Gaza’s largest hospital for the Hamas operations centre it says lies beneath.<\/p>\n
Israel has vowed to “crush” Hamas in response to the group’s October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 240 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n
The army’s air and ground campaign has since killed 12,000 people, including 5,000 children, according to Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.<\/p>\n
Israel has imposed a siege on the territory, allowing just a trickle of aid in from Egypt but barring shipments of fuel over concerns Hamas could divert supplies for military purposes.<\/p>\n
However, on Friday, Israel’s war cabinet unanimously agreed to allow two fuel tankers a day “to run the wastewater treatment facilities… which are facing collapse due to the lack of electricity”, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said.<\/p>\n