Beirut, 25 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A Hamas official warned on Tuesday that no more hostages would be released from the Gaza Strip unless fuel is allowed into the besieged territory, even as Gaza continued to get pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

 

The surprise release of two hostages on Monday, and two on Friday, has raised hopes that other civilians captured by Hamas fighters on October 7 during their bloody assault on Israeli communities could be released.

 

Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the EU and the US, is holding at least 222 hostages in the Gaza Strip, many thought to be kept in the territory's extensive network of tunnels.

 

"For humanitarian reasons, we have released four [hostages] without conditions, but if anyone seeks to have more releases, we have to insist that the international community exert more pressure on Israel to open Rafah crossing to allow fuel and medical supplies to come inside Gaza," Osama Hamdan, Hamas politburo member and representative in Lebanon, told dpa.

 

Hamdan, who is close to the hostage negotiations, said that it is a basic right of the Palestinian people to be allowed to have hospital treatment given that they are subjected daily to Israeli air raids.

 

"The people in Gaza have the right to the minimum of humanitarian needs, which is to be able to be treated for the wounds Israel is on inflicting on them" through airstrikes, he added.

 

The terrorist attacks in Israel near the Gaza border killed over 1,400 people and left the country reeling in shock. Over 1,000 Hamas armed fighters managed to break through the border fence and carry out killing sprees in kibbutzim and at a music festival.

 

The subsequent Israeli air bombardment of Gaza has killed 5,791 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. These figures cannot be independently verified.

 

Since the attacks, Gaza been under a complete siege by Israel, with no food, water or fuel entering the territory via Israel.

 

Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow any fuel to reach Gaza, fearing militants will use it for their own purposes.

 

The only supplies reaching Gaza's population of some 2.2 million people are arriving via aid trucks through the Rafah border from Egypt.

 

The UN agency which looks after Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it could be forced soon to end operations in the Gaza Strip as a result of the shortages.

 

"If we do not get fuel that will allow us to continue delivering humanitarian assistance we will not be able to continue to assist people in need beyond Wednesday night, that is tomorrow," Juliette Touma, UNRWA director of communications, told dpa.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday repeated its warnings of the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, pointing to the particularly precarious water shortage.

 

WHO regional director Rick Brennan said that hardly anyone has taken a proper shower or bath there in recent weeks, he said.

 

With about 1 million displaced people - partly due to an Israeli call for civilians to leave northern Gaza - toilets are a huge problem, he said. Outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases, as well as skin and respiratory infections are only a matter of time, Brennan added.

 

The UN said that although 54 trucks with relief supplies have arrived in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, it is not enough.

 

Urgently needed fuel for generators, for example, was not included in the shipments. Instead, rice and lentils were delivered, which cannot be cooked because people don't have access to the water and gas they need for cooking, the relief agency said.

 

Time to negotiate the return of hostages is seen as one possible reason why Israel has not started an expected ground offensive.

 

Hundreds of thousands of troops have been amassed on the Gaza border.

 

According to a Tuesday report by US news portal Axios, citing two Israeli officials, Israel may be delaying a ground offensive to allow for talks on the release of a large number of hostages in Gaza.

 

The Israeli army, the IDF, said it was examining the report, but did not confirm any of the content.

 

Israeli attacks on Gaza continued during the day on Tuesday. The military also said that it had foiled an attempt by Hamas fighters to infiltrate Israeli territory by sea.

 

Hamas divers had planned to cross north along the coast and into the Zikim kibbutz, according to the IDF.

 

Israeli media said shots were heard and several militants were killed. The IDF said it had attacked the "military compound" in the Gaza Strip from which the militants had set out.

 

Further north, the exchanges of fire on the Israel-Lebanon border also increased, bringing fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could widen and draw in Lebanon.

 

Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have fired regularly into Israeli territory, prompting retaliatory fire from the Israelis, with deaths on both sides.

 

Photo: EPA