Palestinians cut wood from trees to be used as fuel in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 13, 2023. AFP
"The humanitarian operation in Gaza will grind to a halt in the next 48 hours as no fuel is allowed to enter Gaza," UNRWA's Gaza chief Thomas White wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"No fuel has entered Gaza since October 7," he wrote, referring to the date of Al-Aqsa Flood Operation.
Since then, Israel fierce bombing campaign that has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians, and cut off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food to the territory of 2.4 million people, creating chronic shortages.
Aid agencies have repeatedly raised the alarm about the lack of fuel, used to power vital services such as hospitals which rely on generators, and for purifying and pumping drinking water.
"This morning two of our main water distribution contractors ceased working, they simply ran out of fuel, which will deny 200,000 people potable water," White said.
According to COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body that handles Palestinian civil affairs, no fuel has entered the Gaza Strip since "before the war".
Earlier on Monday, the Palestanian health ministry said all hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip had stopped functioning as a result of the impact of fuel shortages and intense ongoing fighting.
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