By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East
GAZA CITY, Gaza – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that its fuel supplies will run out on April 24 unless it receives fresh petrol supplies. UNRWA chief in Gaza, John Ging, said that Israel must supply gasoline to Gaza immediately or the UN will not be able to distribute necessary food aid to Gaza residents.
Ging said that the supply of fuel from Israel to Gaza has been “totally inadequate” for 10 months until it was finally halted two weeks ago. “The devastating humanitarian impact is entirely predictable,” he said.
“Neither UNRWA nor the World Food Programme… will be able to resume food distribution until they receive diesel for the trucks involved in transporting the food,” Ging said. A shortage of diesel and petrol means UN food assistance to 650,000 Palestinian refugees will stop today, and aid from the World Food Programme for another 127,000 Palestinians due in the coming days will also be halted.
It addition to affecting the distribution of food aid, the blockade also creates a health care crisis. According to the lack of fuel, 20 percent of ambulances out of commission and another 60 percent with less than a week’s worth of fuel. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, operating on limited fuel reserves, has reduced its services to emergency cases.
Ging added that “laundry services at the largest hospital, Shifa, have been cut by 50 percent and we all know what that means in terms of public health.” In addition, doctors and health care professionals face difficulties getting to work because of the halt of public transportation.
The Israeli-imposed blockade, following the Hamas takeover of Gaza, prevents exports and allows in only limited supplies of food, fuel and aid. A complete petrol blockade began on April 9, following a Palestinian attack on the main fuel terminal at Nahal Oz.
On April 22, the deputy head of the energy department in Gaza, Kanaan Obeid warned that Gaza’s sole power plant would shut down within the next 30 hours. On April 23, Israel permitted one million liters of diesel fuel to be delivered directly to the power plant, averting its closure. The fuel will be sufficient to power the plant for three days.
Commenting on the blockade, Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East, said “the collective punishment of the population of Gaza, which has been instituted for months now, has failed.” He added that the recent Palestinian attacks against crossing points into Gaza, saying they were “deeply disturbing.”
Serry appealed to Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups to end these attacks. “These attacks endanger both international and Israeli civilians, and cannot possibly contribute to Palestinian efforts to ease the blockade of Gaza. On the contrary, they serve only to deepen and prolong it,” he said.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Gaza Fuel Embargo “Block UN Aid” – 24 April 2008
Guardian – Fuel Shortage Forces UN to Halt Food Handouts in Gaza – 24 April 2008
AFP – Fuel Shortage Could Halt Gaza Food Distribution: UN – 23 April 2008
BBC – Israel Resumes Gaza Fuel Supplies – 23 April 2008
Human Rights Watch – Gaza Fuel Cuts: Civilians Pay the Price – 23 April 2008
International Herald Tribune – UN Warns that Food Distribution will Halt Unless Israel Supplies Diesel – 23 April 2008
UN News Centre – Gaza: UN and Partners Set to Meet on Critical Humanitarian Situation – 23 April 2008
Yedioth News – UN: Collective Punishment of Gazans has Failed – 23 April 2008
