Gaza Strip hospitals' fuel expected to last 24 more hours: OCHA

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
16 Oct 2023 04:38

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory warns of the unprecedented inhuman situation in Gaza.

A Palestinian girl wounded during an Israeli airstrike receives medical treatment at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) confirmed on Monday that reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours.

"The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk," OCHA warned on its website.

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, also warned of the unprecedented inhuman situation in Gaza and the depletion of essential supplies.

Hastings stated that the available water resources for the United Nations organization to assist the population in Gaza will run out either tomorrow or the day after, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

"It’s really about the loss of our humanity if the international community allows this to continue. What we are seeing now is simply inhumane ... the world needs to demand that we are able to deliver the assistance that is at the doorstep of Gaza," she expressed.

This comes after Israeli occupation Security Minister Yoav Gallant ordered last week to cut off electricity, water, and food from Gaza, leaving the already-besieged Strip without basic human needs.

Earlier today, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza reported that hospitals will not be able to care for the wounded and sick due to the depletion of supplies.

The ICRC indicated that it will not be able to continue its humanitarian work unless more supplies are brought into Gaza, pointing out that not everyone can leave, as the wounded, the ill, the elderly, and people with disabilities will be at greater risk in this situation.

It stressed that humanitarian organizations, ambulances, and medical workers must be allowed to safely carry out their work to save lives.

This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.
This is what happening in #Gaza right now.#GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/1PAgIIRXKI
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 14, 2023

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Sunday that the number of martyrs has risen to more than 2,700, with 9,200 others suffering various injuries.

The Ministry had previously declared that the Israeli occupation had wiped out over 55 Palestinian families in the past eight days since the start of its aggression on Gaza.

On its part, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza stated that there are still many martyrs and survivors under the rubble due to the continued Israeli bombardment of the Strip.

Furthermore, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) affirmed today that Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have revealed an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."

The agency's Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, revealed that "there is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days."