On Thursday’s edition of NBC’s “Top Story,” NBC News Investigations Unit Senior Producer Anna Schecter discussed her report that Hamas is hoarding at least 200,000 gallons of fuel and stated that Hamas has continuously demanded fuel and argued that Israel should take care of Gazans because “they want to get the fuel, the resources to fight. And you saw the results of Israel letting down their guard, what happened.”
Schecter said, “[R]eally what Hamas is doing is they take the fuel for themselves and for their war effort.”
She continued, “And what I found really interesting about reporting this story is that, during Hamas’ negotiations with Qatar and the U.S., where they were trying to get Hamas to open the Rafah gate and let people out, fuel was central to the demands that were just unmeetable by Israel, because they know they’re going to use it to fuel the war machine. So, that was fascinating. And it even came into play during the negotiations to free the hostages as well. Fuel is central. And Hamas wants more fuel. And meanwhile, the Gazan population [is] suffering…and the hospitals are about to run out.”
Host Tom Llamas then pointed to Hamas saying that hospitals are about to run out of fuel and contrasted that with their fuel hoarding.
Schecter then said that Hamas leaders say that “the Gazan population, U.N., and even Israel as the ‘occupying force’ should be taking care of the people of Gaza, not Hamas. So, they make all kinds of excuses and their reason is that they want to get the fuel, the resources to fight. And you saw the results of Israel letting down their guard, what happened.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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