HAMILTON, Canada
The UN on Tuesday warned that Israeli restrictions on the Gaza Strip’s border crossings are severely hampering humanitarian operations, with fuel shortages threatening to halt essential services across the besieged territory.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference that "all crossings except Kareem Shalom Abu Salam are still closed," describing the closures as among "many persistent challenges" facing aid workers.
Dujarric said only 1.4 million liters of fuel had entered Gaza since Tuesday, warning, "We need more than 2 million liters of fuel every week to avoid interruption or reduction in our services."
Noting that the fuel deficit is also hampering waste removal efforts, he said since Feb. 10, aid teams have cleared "3,000 cubic meters of solid waste out of over 350,000 meters of accumulated waste."
"Just to note that this pace is significantly below the anticipated schedule due to challenges with fuel availability and insecurity," he said.
Dujarric said shelter efforts are also falling short, with Israeli restrictions on so-called "dual use" materials, including "toolkits, heavy equipment, timber and cement," limiting the response.
He also called for "reopening of additional crossings" and "sustained and predictable flow of diverse critical supplies" into Gaza.