Fuel arrived in Gaza

According to the official Egyptian news agency MENA, the first batch of 25,000 liters of fuel, which Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip for the first time since October 7, passed through the Rafah border gate.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stated in his written statement that the fuel that Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip has reached the region.

“FOR TRANSPORTATION OF AID”

Lazzarini announced that Israel has restricted the use of this fuel “only for the transportation of a small amount of aid from Egypt.”

HOSPITALS CANNOT OPERATE DUE TO FUEL SHORTAGE

Underlining that the fuel in question “cannot be used in humanitarian aid, health centers, water treatment facilities or other UN humanitarian aid activities,” Lazzarini stated:

“It is terrible that fuel is still used as a means of war. For the past five weeks, we have been ordering fuel to use for humanitarian aid activities in Gaza. “This disrupts our work and our ability to help Palestinians in Gaza.”

The UNRWA commissioner emphasized that 70 percent of approximately 2.3 million people living in Gaza will not have access to clean water at the end of the day, noting that water treatment, wastewater facilities and hospitals They have stopped their activities due to fuel shortages.

“IT COSTS PEOPLE’S LIVES”

Lazzarini said: “Giving fuel only for trucks to Gaza will not save lives. “On the contrary, waiting for fuel to arrive will cost many people their lives,” he said.

160 THOUSAND LITERS OF FUEL NEEDED

Underlining that UNRWA needs 160,000 liters of fuel to continue its basic humanitarian aid in Gaza, Lazzarini called on the Israeli authorities to “immediately direct the supply of the necessary fuel in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

“ONE TENTH OF THE NEEDS OF THE DAY”

On the other hand, the press director of UNRWA in Gaza, Adnan Abu Husne, said in his video message that the fuel arriving in Gaza corresponds to approximately one tenth of the Agency’s daily needs in Gaza.

Abu Husne noted that the use of the fuel in question is not permitted in “water treatment facilities, municipalities, health centers and bakeries.”

Noting that UNRWA remains the only institution that can continue humanitarian aid in Gaza, Abu Husne emphasized that it is not possible to meet all humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip under these conditions.

Abu Husne emphasized that to meet humanitarian needs, at least 150 trucks with humanitarian aid materials, as well as fuel, should enter Gaza through other border gates per day.

According to figures announced by the UN, approximately 1.7 million people were forced to migrate from the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million, where Israel tightened the blockade and kept it under intense bombardment.

International humanitarian aid organizations frequently state that fuel is vital for millions of displaced people to have access to clean water, medical care, collection of garbage that will cause disease, and sewage disposal. (AA)