- Aid work in Gaza could end within hours if Israel does not lift the fuel supply ban, the UN says
Aid work in Gaza will grind to a halt within hours unless Israel lifts its blockade on fuel supplies, the United Nations warned yesterday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it would be forced to halt operations in Gaza this evening if it failed to get fuel.
Limited supplies of food, water and medicine were allowed into the Palestinian state this week after Israel agreed not to bomb humanitarian convoys. However, it has refused to allow fuel to enter the Gaza Strip, fearing it could be used by Hamas.
UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said: “If we do not get urgent fuel, we will be forced to suspend our operations in the Gaza Strip.”
She said the agency’s work would stop tonight if the fuel blockage remained in place, adding: “Time is running out.”
Rescued from the rubble: A child was rescued from a collapsed building in the south of the Gaza Strip yesterday
Egyptian volunteers provided humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt yesterday
About 600,000 people have sought refuge in United Nations shelters since Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip.
Hospitals are also affected by the fuel shortage and are unable to operate emergency generators to power life support machines and incubators for premature babies.
According to the World Health Organization, ambulances in some areas will run out of fuel within 24 hours.
Authorities in Gaza said hospital services had “completely collapsed” due to fuel shortages and Israeli airstrikes. The Health Ministry said 12 hospitals and 32 health centers could no longer be operational, adding: “We fear that more hospitals will be out of service in the coming hours due to targeted attacks and fuel shortages.”
She called on the international community to supply its hospitals with fuel and send medics to help treat the wounded.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila called for a humanitarian corridor to allow the transfer of seriously ill patients to hospitals in Egypt.
Doctors in Gaza have warned of the potential spread of disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation after more than 1.4 million people fled their homes following Israeli airstrikes.
The Health Ministry said at least 5,791 Palestinians had been killed in the bombings since the start of the latest crisis, including 35 UNRWA staff.
The humanitarian aid convoy on the way to the Gaza Strip stands in front of the Rafah border gate