Israel 'still not allowing' fuel to humanitarian responders in Gaza: UN

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - A UN official voiced concern Tuesday about the lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip and said Israel is preventing fuel to key humanitarian responders.

"The lack of electricity and fuel continues to impact basic service providers, including hospitals, ambulances, bakeries, and aid trucks," Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

In the last two weeks, the UN has been able to collect 80,000 liters of fuel per day, on average, up from about 45,000 liters daily in the last two weeks of June, he said.

"While this represents an improvement, the requirement for the most basic humanitarian operations stands at 400,000 liters per day, and the Israeli authorities are still not allowing the allocation of fuel to key local humanitarian responders, preventing them from transferring supplies within Gaza," stressed Dujarric.

Turning to multiple airstrikes in Gaza, he said the attacks have reportedly killed and injured dozens of victims.

"One of these attacks occurred just a few hundred meters away from our Joint Humanitarian Operations Centre in Deir al Balah, which is used by the UN and our NGO partners," he said.

Regarding displacement, Dujarric said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that families continue to move from Gaza City to Deir al Balah, with more than 1,000 people observed crossing in the last week.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,700 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.