GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached “critical levels”, threatening to further increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Seven UN agencies said in a joint statement that “fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza”.
Fuel was needed to “power hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulances, and every aspect of humanitarian operations”, they said, highlighting that bakeries also needed fuel to operate.
The besieged Palestinian territory has been facing dire fuel shortages since the beginning of the devastating war that erupted after Hamas’s deadly attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.
But now “fuel shortage in Gaza has reached critical levels”, warned the agencies, including the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the humanitarian agency OCHA. “After almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity,” they pointed out.
“When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation.”
The UN said that without adequate fuel, the agencies that have been responding to the deep humanitarian crisis in a territory swathes of which have been flattened by Israeli bombing and facing famine warnings, “will likely be forced to stop their operations entirely”. “This means no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid,” the statement said.
“Without adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts,” it warned.
“Without fuel, bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate. Water production and sanitation systems will shut down, leaving families without safe drinking water, while solid waste and sewage pile up in the streets,” it added.
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