Gaza fuel crisis prevents half of ambulances from working

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that around 50 per cent of its ambulances have stopped working while the ministry initiates a programme to cope with the acute shortage of fuel in the Strip, Alresalah news website reported.

The ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra, told Alresalah that the ministry suffers from an acute shortage of fuel following Israel’s escalating aggression against Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Media Agency, Gaza’s Energy and Natural Resources Authority said that the Israeli occupation authorities are limiting “the quantities of fuel shipped via Karem Abu Salem crossing to the Strip, which may result in the power plant not operating.”

Al-Qudra pointed out that Gaza’s hospitals normally need an estimated 8,000 litres of fuel per day to operate. However, following the energy authority’s warning that the power generation plant may stop working, the ministry’s need for fuel will likely increase in order to cope with the escalating Israeli aggressions against the enclave.

Al-Qudra said that the medical crews in Gaza are in communication with the Palestinian unity government and report all developments faced by the ministry regarding the crisis, stressing that Gaza is experiencing an unprecedented fuel crisis in the hospital sector.