An ICRC convoy of trucks carrying medical aid arrives at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, 7 November 2023.
Ahmed Salem | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DEIR BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The United Nations was forced on Friday to halt deliveries of food and other essential goods to Gaza, warning of a growing risk of widespread hunger after internet and phone services collapsed. . besieged enclave Because of lack of fuel.
Israel announced it would allow two tanker trucks a day to carry fuel for the United Nations and communications systems into Gaza. The amount is half of what the United Nations says is needed to provide life-saving functions for hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, including powering water systems, hospitals, bakeries and trucks delivering aid.
Israel has banned the entry of fuel since the war began, saying it would be diverted for military use by Hamas. It has also blocked food, water and other supplies, except for small amounts of aid from Egypt, which aid workers say is far below what is needed.
this Communication interruption Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been largely cut off from each other and from the outside world.
UNRWA was unable to deliver aid convoys on Friday because of a communications blackout, said Juliet Touma, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“An extended blackout means an extended pause in our humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip,” Touma told The Associated Press.
Phone and internet services were partially restored in parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday evening after limited amounts of fuel were provided to generators, according to NetBlocks, a group that tracks outages.
Israeli forces have said they may expand their offensive into southern Gaza while continuing operations in the north. Troops have been searching for signs of a Hamas command center at Shifa, the region’s largest hospital, which Israel claims is located beneath the building, a claim Hamas and hospital staff deny.
On Friday, the military said it found the body of another hostage, Cpl. Noa Marciano, in a building near Shifa similar to the one where another hostage, Yehudit Weiss, was found on Thursday. Hundreds of mourners attended Marciano’s funeral in her hometown of Modi’in on Friday, many carrying Israeli flags.
The war has now entered its sixth week, triggered by Hamas attacks southern Israel on October 7in which militants killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, About 240 men, women and children were kidnapped.
According to the Palestinian Health Authority, more than 11,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war, two-thirds of them women and minors. Another 2,700 people are reported missing, Believed to be buried under rubble.count Does not distinguish between Clashes between civilians and militants, Israel says, have killed thousands of militants.
Aid dries up
National security adviser Chachi Hanegbi said Israel had agreed to send “a very small amount” of fuel to Gaza every day at the request of the United States.COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for Palestinian affairs, said it would provide 60,000 liters (15,850 gallons) of water per day to the United Nations
For communications networks, Israel has also agreed to provide an additional 10,000 liters (2,640 gallons) per day, State Department officials said.
Touma said UNRWA and other humanitarian organizations need at least 120,000 liters (31,700 gallons) per day to carry out life-saving missions.
According to the United Nations, Gaza receives only 10% of the food supplies it needs from Egypt every day, and the shutdown of the water system has caused most of the population to drink contaminated water, leading to disease outbreaks.
Abir Etfa, spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program in the Middle East, said dehydration and malnutrition are becoming increasingly serious and almost all residents need food.
“People face the immediate possibility of starvation,” she said in Cairo on Thursday.
