FOG BLOG WORLD LOG: UN RUNS OUT OF FUEL IN GAZA , CAN NO LONGER DISTRIBUTE HUMANITARIAN AID!

U.N. says that without fuel it can no longer distribute humanitarian aid.

The lack of fuel, used to operate the fork lifts that unload the goods and the trucks that deliver them, is imperiling the only lifeline for the 2.2 million people in the coastal enclave. The United Nations said on Monday that its already dwindling reserve of fuel in the Gaza Strip would run out as soon as Tuesday, preventing the organization from receiving and distributing the desperately needed aid trickling in, and imperiling the only lifeline for the 2.2 million people in the coastal enclave.

The U.N.’s agency for aiding Palestinians, UNRWA, has been the main coordinator of humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza from Egypt since Israel placed Gaza under siege. Trucks carrying essential goods such as water, food, medicine and hygienic products go to U.N. warehouses in Gaza, where they are unloaded and distributed in other trucks by the U.N. and humanitarian agency partners, the U.N. said. Andrea De Domenico, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Palestinian territories, told reporters on Monday that as of Tuesday the U.N. will no longer have enough fuel to operate either the fork lifts that unload the goods or the trucks that distribute them.

As part of its offensive against Hamas, Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza and blocked the delivery of fuel, saying Hamas uses it for rocket attacks and has stockpiled fuel intended for civilians. More than one million Gazans have been displaced, and civilians are running perilously low on basic human necessities.

“Instead of a much-needed increase of this assistance, we have been informed by colleagues of UNRWA that, due to the lack of fuel, as of tomorrow the operations of receiving trucks will no longer be possible,” Mr. De Domenico said from Jerusalem.

A total of 980 trucks carrying essential aid have crossed into Gaza from Egypt, including 76 trucks on Sunday, Mr. De Domenico said. But the U.N. has said far more is needed. Before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, about 500 trucks of humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza daily.