The Up First Podcast: Gaza attacks and israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2001, and Israeli airstrikes

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Israel has bombarded Gaza for more than two weeks following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7., in which more than 1,400 people were killed. Palestinian officials say more than 6,000 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called Israel’s strategy a violation of international humanitarian law. Israel says a ground invasion is imminent. But U.S. officials are concerned about the possibility of the war spreading.

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There are no cars on the streets of Gaza. Meat suppliers have no refrigeration and many of its bakeries are closed. Doctors perform operations by flashlight.

Although 62 aid trucks have entered Gaza since last weekend carrying much-needed food, water and medical supplies, none have delivered fuel — which Israel has blocked over concerns it could be stolen and used by Hamas.

As a result, aid groups have escalated their warnings, saying the lack of fuel has reached a critical point. The United Nations agency that provides relief to the Palestinians could run out of fuel in a day.

Touma said fuel is needed for U.N. vehicles to collect aid from the border and distribute it across Gaza. Fuel is also used to power hospitals, where doctors have warned that people will die if life-saving medical equipment is forced to go out of operation.

Many bakeries in Gaza contracts with the World Food Programme have shut down. According to the U.N., at least 10 bakeries have been struck and destroyed over the last week.

People are exposed to airstrikes on a daily basis when long lines form for those that remain intact. The lack of electricity or fuel for generators has started to affect meat suppliers, too, who cannot refrigerate their products, according to the U.N.

In response to an UNRWA appeal for fuel on the social media site X, the Israel Defense Forces responded with a satellite image of what it described as fuel tanks located in Gaza.

“Only the priorities are different: Hamas prefers to have all the fuel for its war-fighting capabilities, leaving civilians without it, and then international organizations ask for help,” he said. Who are they asking from? Are they asking Hamas, who has access to the fuel and governs the Gaza Strip, or are they blaming Israel?”

In an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered, World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said she was not hopeful about the state of negotiations over allowing additional aid into Gaza.

Nothing’s working. There’s nothing happening. McCain said that both sides were not talking. They aren’t dealing with the issue of people who are going to die. They’re going to die because they lack food, water, and ability to support themselves.

“The Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they’re focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. He added that it’s against their interest when that doesn’t happen.

Abood Okal, a Massachusetts resident, and his family run out of milk during the third day of the Hamas-Gaza conflict

The Ministry of Health is nominally operated by the Palestinian Authority and it provides funding and supplies to hospitals in Gaza. Hamas governs Gaza and likely has close oversight over information Gaza health officials put out. The casualty counts are widely accepted by humanitarian groups as accurate and have been cited by the State Department.

Gaza’s borders are effectively closed, limiting the ability of aid groups and journalists to access the territory in order to independently verify the numbers.

As the conflict nears the end of its third week, more than 200 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity. U.S. officials and hostages’ families have urged Israeli forces to delay the invasion in order to leave more time for negotiations over their release.

Hundreds of US citizens are stuck in Gaza. Massachusetts resident Abood Okal, along with his wife and their 1-year-old son, have been sharing a house in southern Rafah with dozens of others, he told NPR.

They sleep on the floor and use only a couple hours of electricity a day from their solar panels. On Wednesday, they ran out of milk for his son, he said.

“We feel fortunate every morning that we wake up and we have lived for another day,” Okal said. “But it’s becoming increasingly harder and harder to find hope with everything else going around us.”