Gaza fuel shortage threatens Al-Awda hospital shutdown within 24 hours

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza issued a grave warning on Saturday, announcing that it may cease operations within the next 24 hours due to an acute fuel shortage.

Mohammed Salha, the hospital's acting director, said in a statement that “the health sector in northern Gaza is suffering from a shortage of medical supplies and the depletion of fuel.”

“The hospital will be forced to stop operating within 24 hours if fuel is not delivered by the World Health Organization,” he added.

Currently, Al-Awda Hospital is relying on small generators to provide essential healthcare services to patients.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli military has targeted Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare infrastructure, rendering many hospitals non-operational and endangering the lives of patients and the wounded, according to Palestinian and United Nations reports.

Israel has also restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and fuel into Gaza, permitting only minimal assistance for international organizations. The Gaza government and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) have confirmed that the limited aid entering the Strip is insufficient to meet the vast needs of the population.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed more than 40,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,400, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi