UN warns children in Gaza may begin to ‘die of thirst’ amid Israel’s fuel blockade

The UN on Tuesday warned that children in the Gaza Strip could begin dying of thirst if Israel’s more than 100-day fuel blockade is not lifted, Anadolu reports.

“Fuel, to state the obvious, is essential to produce and to treat and to distribute water to more than 2 million people living inside Gaza,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference, adding that “UNICEF warns that if the current more than 100-day blockade on fuel coming into Gaza does not end, children may begin to die of thirst.”

Dujarric said Palestinians are being killed and injured, including “reports of people coming under fire near non-UN militarized distribution sites on routes designated by the Israeli authorities for the United Nations to collect trucks carrying aid.”

He reported that a mission to retrieve stored fuel in Rafah was completed, and fuel is now running essential services in southern Gaza.

“That fuel is being allocated to run critical services in the south, thereby buying us some more time,” said Dujarric. “However, unless fuel is actually delivered inside Gaza, these lifelines will very quickly shut down.”

“If our life-saving operations shut down, people will not be able to survive,” he noted.

Dujarric stated that on Monday, six of 14 planned humanitarian movements, including the retrieval of bodies and water deliveries, were denied.

Asked if it is time for a new global initiative to end the conflict, he said: “The tragic numbers that you referred to speak for themselves as to the horrors of what is going on in Gaza,” referring to the thousands killed. “People being killed just for trying to get food in because of a militarized humanitarian distribution system that meets none of the prerequisites for a functioning, fair, independent and impartial humanitarian system.

“It is high time that leaders on both sides find the political courage to put a stop to this carnage.”

Israel resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed 5,759 victims and injured 19,807, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.​​​​​​​

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.