UNRWA warns of humanitarian collapse in Gaza without fuel

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the humanitarian response in the besieged Gaza Strip will stop if fuel supplies are not allowed to enter.

Ekleme: 23.10.2023 09:51:35 / Güncelleme: 23.10.2023 09:51:35 / English News
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The agency’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement on Monday that UNRWA will run out of fuel in three days, which is critical for providing water, health care and food to the people of Gaza.

“Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance. No fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza,” he said.

He called on all parties and those with influence over them to immediately allow fuel supplies into Gaza and to ensure that they are strictly used to prevent a collapse of the humanitarian response.

UNRWA is currently hosting more than half a million people out of nearly one million displaced across the Gaza Strip, as a result of the ongoing israeli aggression.

Lazzarini welcomed the entry of aid convoys into Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, but stressed that they are far from enough.

“To be meaningful, Gaza needs an uninterrupted and scaled up humanitarian supply line,” he said.

According to UNRWA, only 34 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies but no fuel have entered Gaza from Egypt since October 21. This is equivalent to about three percent of the daily average volume of commodities entering Gaza prior to the conflict.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said that the entry of aid convoys was “another small glimmer of hope for the millions of people in dire need of humanitarian aid. But they need more, much more.” (ILKHA)