November 18, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli government ministers will meet Saturday night to discuss a decision made by the emergency war management cabinet to allow the daily entry of fuel trucks to Gaza. 

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in an interview on Israel’s Channel 13 Friday night that he believed the decision to lift the fuel blockade — made late Thursday — should be taken by the full cabinet. The emergency war cabinet is a smaller group consisting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, the former chief of general staff and former defense minister. 

Earlier, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had also raised objections.  

Netanyahu had agreed to call a cabinet meeting after speaking to Smotrich, according to Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's national security adviser. 

The United Nations needs 200,000 liters (52,834 gallons) of fuel each day in order to “meet the minimum of our humanitarian responsibilities in Gaza,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday. The lack of fuel has meant that “communications and other essential functions such as water desalination are progressively dropping offline,” Griffiths told the UN General Assembly. 

Fuel is “essential for keeping people alive,” Griffiths said. 

Two fuel tankers entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing Friday, an Israeli government agency told CNN, after the country's war cabinet approved a measure to allow for regular deliveries to the besieged enclave.

The tankers were carrying 60,000 liters of diesel fuel between them, according to Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an agency that liaises with Palestinians on civilian affairs.

Remember: Israel's war cabinet approved a measure on Friday allowing two fuel tankers a day to enter Gaza for water and sewage system support, according to Israel's national security adviser.

Those systems are "on the verge of collapsing, considering the lack of electricity and ability to operate the sewage and water systems," the official, Tzachi Hanegbi, said in a Friday briefing.

The deliveries will amount to 140,000 liters of fuel entering Gaza every 48 hours, a US State Department official told CNN.

Hamas has demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of its request that Israel pause its military operations in exchange for freeing hostages held by the terrorist group, according to two Israeli officials and third source familiar with the ongoing negotiations.

While Israel could pause its military operations for as long as several days to allow for scores of hostages to be released, the sources suggested it is unlikely to accept the drone request since it would mean losing track of the movements of Hamas operatives, including any efforts to move the hostages within the Gaza strip.

The demand by Hamas about drone overflights has not been previously reported and with the intense discussions continuing, it’s unclear whether it remains on the table or has already been formally rejected by Israel as a part of the negotiations.

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on Friday.

The Israeli military has been flying drones in the skies over Gaza for hours on end virtually every day during their military operation, using them as a primary means of surveillance to monitor the battlefield.

Throughout the negotiations, Israel has been balancing its urgent desire to get hostages freed with concerns Hamas would only exploit any pause to stifle Israel’s military advantage and regroup.

A pause in the fighting that also requires Israel to keep its drones out of Gaza’s airspace would deny the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of one of its most important ways to observe Hamas movements from above. It could allow Hamas to reposition its fighters before the ceasefire expires with Israeli troops exposed on the ground, and it would offer Hamas a window to reshuffle the hiding locations for hostages.

The Pentagon has also been flying American surveillance drones over Gaza in support of Israel’s efforts to find the hostages, which include an estimated 10 Americans. US officials said the American intelligence being gathered is not being used to conduct lethal strikes.

More background on negotiations: The negotiating parties — Israel, Hamas and the US, with Qatar mediating between them — continue to grind away, as they try to reach an agreement on a number of sticking points. These include how many days a potential pause in fighting would last and the number of hostages that would be released, according to sources familiar with the talks.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Qatar’s leader, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to a person familiar with the call. Qatar has hosted hostage talks that have included the heads of Israeli and US intelligence. It was the second call between the two men this week.

The hostages expected to be released first are women and children. Hamas has also asked for women and children in Israelis prisons to be freed at the same time. Other demands made by Hamas during the negotiations are more aid and fuel into Gaza, sources say, as well as allowing Palestinians who have fled south for safety to return to northern Gaza, where Israel now has control.

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