GAZA: Water purifiers, medical supplies and tent poles are among items Israel has blocked from entering Gaza on aid trucks, according to an Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) document and sources in Gaza.

Israel follows a practice of inspecting trucks bound forthe Palestinian enclave to stop any items it considers to have potential `dual use` civilian or military.

But the issue of which items do or don`t get through has become more urgent and contested as the conflict has unfolded. The conflict has displaced most of Gaza`s popula-tion and caused acute shortages of food, water, medicines and other basic necessities.

The ERC document, whichdates back to mid-December, says 1,200 water purifiers, 100 oxygen cylinders, one oxygengenerator,1,000solar-powered items, 24 power generators and 418 medical supplies had been blocked since the war started.

COGAT, an Israeli Defence Ministry agency that coordinates aid deliveries with the United Nations and humanitarian groups, said this was not true.

`We are not refusing anything that is underneath four headlines: food, water, medical supplies and shelters, said Colonel Elad Goren of COGAT during a news briefing on Friday.

COGAT claimed 11,220 tonnes of medical supplies had entered Gaza, as well as filters for use in a water desalination plant and mobile desalination filters.

Israeli claim denied But hospital doctors in Gaza said equipment such as oxygen cylinders and x-ray machines were not getting through, even though they were desperately needed.

They attributed the problem to Israeli inspections.

A humanitarian worker from an international aid group, who did not wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject, said they were aware that certain types of medical equipment, including x-ray machines, `cause problems`.

Kobi Michael, a former adviser to the Israeli government on Palestinian affairs, conceded it was likely that inspections had been toughened up since the start of the war.

`What I think most concerns Israeli inspectors now is what equipment might allow Hamas to extend their time in the tunnels,` said Michael, who is now a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University`s Institute for National Security Studies.

The ERC document was given to a group of European lawmakers during a visit to the Egyptian city of Al Arish, where aid trucks are loaded, and the Rafah crossing, where they enter Gaza.

Spanish lawmaker Soraya Rodriguez and fellow lawmaker Barry Andrews, of Ireland, said they had learnt during their visit that in some cases tent poles were being excluded by Israeli inspectors, for reasons that were not clear.

`How would this be capable of military use?` wondered Andrews. `It`s very difficult to understand.

In Rafah, inside Gaza, Reuters reporters saw a pile of what looked like thick canvas tents, discarded on the floor in a corner of the Kuwait Hospital. This was because they had been delivered without poles, according to Dr Suhaib al-Hams, chairman of the hospital`s board of directors.

A Gaza social affairs ministry official said he was aware of about 150 tents arriving without poles, out of 30 trucks loaded with tents.

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

`Where am I supposed to find metal poles?` he said.

`We lost our house, and we can`t even find a good tent.

Asked to provide a public list of specific `dual-use` items, COGAT referred Reuters to a document dating from 2008, available on the internet, that listed 10 categories of items, such as telecommunications, electronics, advanced materials, propulsion and information security.

Israel`s post-war plan Over 160 Palestinians were killed and nearly 300 others injured in Israeli attacks hours after Defence Minister Yoav Gallant presented on Thursday his government`s plan for the post-war administration of the Gaza Strip, saying neither Hamas nor Israel would govern the Palestinian territory after hostilities there conclude.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Europe`s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were due in the Middle East on Friday to try to halt the spillover of the conflict in Gaza to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Gallant unveiled an outline of his plan to the press before submitting it to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s war cabinet, which has been divided in recent weeks over the future of Gaza after the ouster of Hamas, which has ruled the strip since 2007.

Under the plan, Israel`s war in the territory will continue untilit has secured the return of the prisoners taken on October 7, dismantled Hamas`s `military and governing capabilities`, and removed any remaining military threats. After that, the outline says, a new phase will begin during which `Hamas will not control Gaza and will not pose a security threat to the citizens of Israel`, with unspecified Palestinian bodies assuming the territory`s governance.

Israel would reserve its right to operate inside the territory, the plan states, but there would be `no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip after the goals of the war have been achieved`.

`Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel,` Gallant`s outline says, without specifying which bodies that might include.

Washington has suggested Gaza be governed by a `revitalised` Palestinian Authority, which is based in the occupied West Bank.

Fear of spillover Blinken and Borrell were due in the region on Friday to try to halt the spillover of the conflict in Gaza to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Red Sea shipping lanes.

The visits take place almost three months since the assault on southern Israel by Hamas from the Palestinian enclave sparked an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

Israel announced a more targeted approach on Thursday as Blinken set off on a weekPalestinians said there had been no let-up in Israeli air strikes and shelling, with planes and tanks intensifying attacks overnight on the densely populated areas of Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Al-Nusseirat in the centre of the coastal strip.

According to Gaza health ministry, 162 Palestinians were killed and 296 others injured in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours.

Four people were killed in an air strike on a street in Al-Nusseirat. Further south, where hundreds of thousands of Gazans have moved on Israeli advice, six Palestinians were killed in a strike on Khan Yunis, health officials said.-Agencies