Gaza :

Humanitarian organizations are battling odds in the Gaza Strip to provide succor to Palestinians reeling from the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. A spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Tommaso Della Longa said that the humanitarian organizations are doing an “incredible work” in a “catastrophic situation”. Speaking to Vatican News, Longa said that food, water, medical supplies and fuel for hospital generators are running out in the enclave as the fighting rages.

Longa said the shortage of essential items is crippling the work of aid agencies, aggravating the humanitarian crisis. In the Gaza Strip, it is the Palestine Red Crescent which manages most of the emergency medical services, ambulances, hospitals and psychosocial centers for children. He said that fuel is of paramount importance in the enclave as hospitals are unable to function without electricity which is provided by generators running on gasoline.

Meanwhile, Christian NGO Christian Aid has given an emergency appeal seeking fuel access for all hospitals and health facilities in the Strip as the death toll from the conflict is on the rise. So far, the Israeli strikes have claimed more than 8,500 lives. The charity also warned that the acute shortage of clean drinking water and electricity will lead to a spurt in the death toll.

According to William Bell, Head of Middle East Policy & Advocacy for Christian Aid, the airstrikes by the Israeli Defence Forces are inching closer to hospitals in the Strip and the situation has gone from bad to worse. “Hospitals are now unable to function in the way that they should. You need fuel, and fuel is one of those commodities that haven't been allowed in,” he said. During the weekend, 33 trucks with essential supplies were permitted to enter the conflict zone. This is in contrast to the 500 trucks of supplies every day before the fighting began, as per UN estimates.

The chronic disease center for Christian Aid’s local partner Palestinian Medical Relief Society Dr Hassan says, “If fuel totally runs out in Gaza it will be a catastrophe. So many patients will die, especially those in intensive care units who are relying on ventilators, which will stop working without electricity. The hospitals will become a place where patients are only sent to the morgue.”