Water purifiers, medical supplies and tent poles are among the items Israel has blocked from entering Gaza on aid trucks, according to an Egyptian Red Crescent document seen by Reuters and Gaza sources, but Israel has Refused to block any object.

Under a policy that dates back to the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, Israel inspects trucks bound for the Palestinian Territory to stop any items it deems potentially dangerous. Assumes “dual use” – civilian or military.

But with the outbreak of the war the issue of which things do or do not proceed becomes more urgent and controversial. The conflict has displaced much of Gaza’s population and led to severe shortages of food, water, medicines and other basic necessities.

The Egyptian Red Crescent document, which dates to mid-December, says 1,200 water purifiers, 100 oxygen cylinders, one oxygen generator, 1,000 solar-powered items, 24 power generators and 418 medical supplies were blocked since the war began. Had happened.

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COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that coordinates aid distribution with the United Nations and humanitarian groups, said this is not true.

“We are not denying anything that falls under four headings: food, water, medical supplies and shelter. All of these are entering every day,” COGAT Col. Elad Goren said during a news briefing on Friday. Are.”

COGAT said 11,220 tonnes of medical supplies had entered Gaza, including X-ray machines, CT machines and oxygen generators for hospitals, as well as filters for use in water desalination plants and mobile desalination filters.

tunnels

But hospital doctors in Gaza said that equipment such as oxygen cylinders and X-ray machines were not available, even though they were desperately needed. He blamed the problem on Israeli inspections, without explaining how he found out.

Israeli troops bombard Gaza with mortars. Photo: Reuters

A humanitarian worker with an international aid group, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic, said he was aware that certain types of medical equipment, including X-ray machines, “create problems”.

Kobi Michael, a former Israeli government adviser on Palestinian affairs, said it was likely that inspections had become stricter since the beginning of the war than under the pre-war regime, becoming less strict over the years.

Michael, now a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, said, “I think what Israeli inspectors are most concerned about now is what equipment will allow Hamas to extend its time in the tunnels. can give.”

“Israel wants to shorten this war, and that means reducing the time Hamas can spend underground.”

The Egyptian Red Crescent document was given to a group of European parliamentarians during a visit to the Egyptian town of Al Arish, where aid trucks are loaded, and the Rafah crossing, where they enter Gaza. Spanish MP Soraya Rodriguez later provided it to Reuters.

Rodriguez and fellow Irish MP Barry Andrews said they learned during their visit that in some, though not all, cases, tent poles were being excluded by Israeli inspectors, for reasons that were not clear.

“How would it be capable of military use?” Andrews said. “It’s very difficult to understand.”

tent without poles

COGAT said Israel has no policy on removing tent poles and that 13,490 tons of shelter material, including tent poles, had entered Gaza in 923 trucks during the war.

In Rafah, inside Gaza, Reuters journalists saw piles of what looked like thick canvas tents thrown on the floor in a corner of a Kuwait hospital. According to Dr. Suhaib Al-Hams, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, this was because he was delivered without a caesarean.

An official from Gaza’s Ministry of Social Affairs said they were aware of about 150 tents arriving without poles from 30 trucks loaded with tents.

Ashraf Abu Sakran, a builder displaced from his home in Gaza City, said he rejected the offer of a tent without poles. Instead, he bought some plywood and tarpaulin, and built a shelter in which he now lives in Rafah with his wife and five children, one of whom is disabled.

“Where do I find metal poles?” He said. “We lost our house, and we couldn’t even find a decent tent.”

Part of the confusion over whether certain items are being blocked by Israel on dual-use grounds or are not coming into Gaza for other reasons may arise from the absence of a public list of specific dual-use items. .

Asked to provide one, COGAT referred Reuters to a 2008 document available on the Internet that listed 10 categories of items such as telecommunications, electronics, advanced materials, propulsion and information security.

An Israeli official with knowledge of the matter, who did not want to be named, cited fertilizer used to make explosives, iron used to make rockets and material used in digging tools as examples of dual-use items. Can be done to make.

“Furthermore, we cannot afford to give terrorist groups ideas about what to do with such materials,” the official said.