Gaza authorities suspend key services due to Israeli fuel blockade

A fuel crisis in Gaza, caused by an Israeli blockade, has forced several municipalities to suspend key services, such as waste collection and sewage treatment, threatening to exacerbate disease and suffering in the war-torn territory.

In a joint statement, the affected municipalities in central and southern Gaza said they have had to halt these services because of Israeli restrictions on the import of petrol and diesel into the coastal strip.

The statement, which was signed by the municipal authorities of Khan Younis and Rafah, among others, also said that equipment for clearing rubble could not be used due to fuel shortages, and that wells had been closed.

The authorities said their attempts to secure fuel through international organizations had proven unsuccessful.

Much of Gaza lies in ruins after over 21 months of Israeli attacks, with many Palestinians living in severely overcrowded conditions.

A group of seven UN organizations providing humanitarian aid in Gaza warned on Saturday of the catastrophic consequences of the impending fuel shortage.

"Without adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts," said a statement issued by the organizations, which include the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the World Health Organization.

In hospitals, the lights are already going out, maternity and intensive care units are failing and ambulances are no longer able to respond to calls, the organizations said.

They stressed that bakeries and community kitchens, which feed the sealed-off territory's starving population, also depend on fuel to operate, as do water treatment and sewage plants.

"These conditions expose families to deadly disease outbreaks and push Gaza's most vulnerable even closer to death," the statement said.

Israel has been waging a relentless war in Gaza against Hamas since the Palestinian Islamist group and its allies launched unprecedented attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel controls all access to the Gaza Strip and has severely restricted the entry of humanitarian supplies, including fuel.

Israeli officials have repeatedly claimed that the minimum amounts of fuel required are reaching Gaza.