UN says lack of fuel in Gaza of 'great concern' as supplies run out

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The lack of fuel entering the besieged Gaza Strip is of "great concern" as existing supplies rapidly run out, the UN warned on Monday.

"I think the number of trucks that usually went into Gaza every day was about 450 or so. And now we're seeing 20 or 30, and we're not seeing any fuel, which is a great concern," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "We're talking days, and when that happens that will be truly devastating on top of what is already a devastating humanitarian situation."

Dujarric said just about 4% of aid shipments that would have entered Gaza before the current war are now able to reach the coastal enclave with UN staffers in Gaza warning that their fuel supplies will soon be exhausted.

There are sufficient supplies of fuel waiting to be loaded onto trucks and transported into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, but Dujarric demurred when asked why the UN has so far been unable to get any fuel shipments into the occupied territory.

"I don't want to go into all the details. What I can tell you is that we want to get fuel in we haven't been able to get all the hurdles moved for us to get that fuel in," he said when asked by a reporter why the UN has not been able to ship fuel in yet.

Israel has continued a relentless bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israeli border towns on Oct. 7 that killed roughly 1,300 Israelis.

Over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the bombardment began, including 2,055 children, 1,119 women and 217 elders, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.

In addition to ongoing bombing, Israel ordered a "full siege" on Gaza, halting electricity supplies, and prohibiting fuel, water and food from reaching Gaza. The first aid shipment since Israel ordered the seige arrived on Saturday with a second convoy of relief trucks entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Both shipments entered from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, the sole route into Gaza not controlled by Israel.

Fuel is critical for Gaza's daily operations, and is needed to run a vital desalination plant to produce drinking water for the strip's over 2 million inhabitants, as well as to keep the lights on in Gaza's over-burdened hospitals.