The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) distributes rations to 700,000 refugees and the World Food Programme to another 127,000. Due to the lack of fuel UNRWA has already curtailed operations at 214 schools and 19 health centres as well as refuse collection in eight refugee camps housing half a million people.

Municipal councils have ended refuse collecting operations involving 650,000 people. Public hospitals have between 33 and 170 hours of fuel, hospitals run by international organisations have fuel for less than a week. Vaccines for 50,000 infants could be spoilt due to a lack of refrigeration at Gaza’s Central Drug Stores. Eighteen ambulances are idle, the Strip’s main hospital has cancelled operations, sewage pumping plants are closing. Electricity and water cuts are frequent and prolonged. Irrigated crops are withering because 70 per cent of Gaza’s 4,000 agricultural wells rely on pumps.

On Wednesday Israel allowed in one million litres of industrial diesel for Gaza’s power station, enough to provide electricity until Sunday night. Cooking gas was delivered last week but not diesel for stand-by generators and vehicles or petrol.

Counter claim

Israel claims Hamas is blocking supplies and says one million litres of petrol and diesel are stored on the Palestinian side of the crossing.  But this is enough for only one day.

The Palestinian fuel distributors syndicate, which has promised to provide the UN with fuel to enable ration distribution, has refused to take delivery unless Israel agrees to supply regularly enough fuel to meet the needs of Gaza’s 1.5 million citizens.