UN warns humanitarian operations in Gaza ‘will cease within 48 hours’ due to lack of fuel

The humanitarian situation could further deteriorate in Gaza. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the enclave warned, Monday, November 13, that the “Humanitarian operations will cease within 48 hours, with no fuel allowed into Gaza”besieged by Israel and prey to fighting between Hamas and Israel.

"There’s nothing we can do," Thomas White told reporters in Jerusalem, confirming his warning issued about X a few hours earlier. The UN agency has its back against the wall because two of its main subcontractors transporting water by truck no longer have fuel to circulate, “which will deprive 200,000 people of drinking water” he explained.

More than 2 million residents displaced

The Gaza reservoir is to be filled by an oil pipeline in Egypt. “Unfortunately, the negotiations are at an impasse because this decision is made at the highest level of the Israeli government,” emphasized Thomas White.

No fuel has entered Gaza since October 7, according to UNRWA. The Israeli Defense Ministry body overseeing civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories (Cogat) confirms that no fuel has entered the Gaza Strip since “before the war”. Thomas White warned of the risk of cholera in the absence of sewage treatment plants and functioning hospitals.

In the small besieged territory, more than half of the 2.4 million inhabitants are displaced and now totally dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. The UN agency says “overwhelmed by the number of displaced people” that she must help when they arrive in the south of the Gaza Strip, after having fled the north where the fighting is most intense.