GAZA CITY
The Hamas-led Gaza government on Friday appealed to the international community and humanitarian groups to help ease the suffering of the Gaza Strip's almost two million inhabitants, warning that the embattled Palestinian enclave was now in the throes of a full-fledged humanitarian crisis.
"The government has briefed local and international parties on the humanitarian situation in the strip and made it clear to them how grave the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is due to frequent power outages and the lack of fuel and gas," Gaza government spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told Anadolu Agency.
Freezing temperatures currently sweeping through Gaza have exposed the vulnerabilities of the strip's residents, who have also suffered an acute fuel shortage for the last two months.
A choking Israeli blockade on the strip, meanwhile, coupled with measures taken by the Egyptian army to stop the smuggling of Egyptian fuel into Gaza, have added to the hapless territory's travails.
Gaza's only power plant stopped working several weeks ago after consuming the last drop of fuel, rendering the local energy authority incapable of providing electricity for more than six hours a day.
Al-Ghussein said that Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had phoned several international figures and urged them help cover shortfalls of badly-needed medicines and medical equipment in Gaza.
According to al-Ghussein, Haniyeh had also urged Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to "set aside political differences away from humanitarian services… and promptly work towards sending the fuel needed to operate Gaza's power plant."
The spokesman added: "The funds that the PA receives from donors and international agencies, as well as the revenue from taxes on fuel and Gaza imports… are being channeled directly to the PA treasury. Nothing is going towards services in Gaza."
Al-Ghussein concluded by urging Egyptian authorities to keep the Rafah border crossing – which links the Gaza Strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – open in both directions on a round-the-clock basis.
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
