A rare shipment of fuel since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza entered the Palestinian territory on Sunday, a Rafah border crossing official and an AFP journalist said. The journalist saw six tankers entering Gaza from warehouses in Rafah, entering from Egypt. A Palestinian official at the checkpoint confirmed that the trucks were carrying fuel.
The UN earlier warned that the lives of at least 120 newborn babies in incubators in Gaza hospitals were at risk as fuel ran out in the besieged enclave. The lives of at least 120 newborn babies in incubators in hospitals in the war-torn Gaza Strip are at risk as fuel runs out in the besieged enclave, the UN children's agency warned on Sunday. Hospitals are facing acute shortages of medicine, fuel and water not only for the thousands wounded in more than two weeks of war between Gaza's militants and Israel but also for routine patients. "We currently have 120 newborns that are in incubators, of which we have 70 newborns on mechanical ventilation, and of course that is where we are extremely concerned," UNICEF spokesman Jonathan Crix said. Feeding is one of the main concerns for the seven specialist wards in Gaza, which treat premature babies to help them breathe and provide life support, for example when their organs are not sufficiently developed. Amid widespread power outages, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday that hospitals had already run out of fuel for generators. The WHO said about 1,000 people in need of dialysis would also be at risk if the generators stopped. 20 trucks of humanitarian aid crossed from Egypt to Gaza on Saturday, but there was no fuel in the shipment. Gaza's health ministry said on Saturday that 130 premature babies were at risk of death due to a lack of fuel. About 160 women give birth every day in Gaza, according to the UN Population Fund, which estimates there are 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza.
Separately, for the second day in a row, trucks carrying aid crossed the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, AFP correspondents reported. On Sunday, 17 trucks crossed, a day after 20 trucks carried medical aid, food and water into the Palestinian enclave. The UN has estimated that about 100 trucks a day are needed to meet the needs of Gaza, where more than 4,600 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and more than a million displaced.
India on Sunday sent 38.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Egypt's Sinai region for Palestinian civilians from the embattled Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said. An Indian Air Force Boeing C-17 transport aircraft "carrying nearly 6.5 tons of medical aid and 32 tons of disaster relief materials for the people of Palestine" took off for Egypt's El Arish airport, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said, as quoted by AFP. "The supplies include basic life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarps, sanitary items, water purification tablets AND other essential items," Bagchi posted on social media. India condemned Hamas for the October 7 "terrorist attack" but also reiterated its long-standing position for an independent Palestinian state.
The military actions
Israel continued its shelling of Gaza, but also of Hamas and Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The army has destroyed three terrorist cells in different locations in southern Lebanon that were preparing rocket attacks against Israeli settlements along the border.
Separately, the Israeli army reported on Sunday that it had "accidentally hit an Egyptian post" with a tank near the border with Gaza, AFP reported. "The Israeli army expresses regret over the incident" near the Kerem Shalom area, the army said in a statement.
The warnings
Israel's delayed ground operation has been replaced by startling threats and warnings from warring countries and powers. Hezbollah would make the "mistake of its life" if it went to war with Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday. The Lebanese Islamist movement “will make the mistake of its life. We will hit it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the implications for it and the state of Lebanon will be devastating," Netanyahu said during a visit to troops in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon.
The United States will take "appropriate action" in response to any escalation in the Middle East conflict between Israel and Hamas, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned. "If any group or country wants to expand this conflict and take advantage of this very unpleasant situation that we're seeing, our advice is: don't," he told ABC News. Hours before, the Pentagon announced that it was increasing its military presence in the region. "We reserve the right to defend ourselves and will not hesitate to take appropriate action," Austin added.
A warning also came from the opposing side. Iran's foreign minister warned Israel and its ally the United States on Sunday that the Middle East risks spiralling out of control as a result of Israel's war against Hamas. "I warn the US and its proxies (Israel) that if they do not immediately stop the crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control," stressed Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a joint press conference in Tehran with his South African colleague Naledi Pandor. /BGNES
