Israel prevents fuel supplies to Gaza hospitals; stocks sufficient for 3 days: Gaza Health Ministry

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The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza states that the generators of Nasser Hospital will stop working in a few hours due to lack of fuel in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 04, 2024. [Doaa Albaz - Anadolu Agency]

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned Wednesday that hospitals operating are at risk of shutting down within 72 hours as a result of the Israeli occupation’s ban on the entry of fuel supplies needed to operate generators, as the US-backed Israeli aggression continues its genocidal campaign.

The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli occupation is preventing international and UN organizations from accessing fuel storage areas designated for hospitals, under the pretext that they are located within red zones where military operations are taking place.

It added that the continuation of these obstacles could completely put hospitals out of service, especially since all vital departments rely entirely on fuel-generated electricity amid constant power outages.

The ministry indicated that the remaining fuel stock in hospitals is only sufficient for three days.

READ: Israeli aims to control all Gaza, displace civilians violate international law: EU foreign policy chief

Since the start of the genocidal war in October 2023, Israel has targeted the health system in the Gaza Strip, destroying or putting the majority of hospitals out of service.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 16 small partially functioning hospitals currently operate in Gaza, including five government hospitals and 11 private hospitals, out of a total of 38 hospitals that provided services before the war, in addition to eight field hospitals that provide emergency services.

Since 7 October 2023, Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.

The genocide left approximately 185,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and famine has claimed the lives of many, including children.

READ: Palestinian civil society organisations demand halt to US-Israeli aid mechanism