AhlulBayt News Agency: Adnan Abu Hasna, media adviser for UNRWA, revealed that Israeli occupation authorities are withholding 6,000 agency trucks loaded with food supplies sufficient for Gaza for three months, along with hundreds of thousands of tents and blankets intended for 1.3 million Palestinians amid the worsening humanitarian crisis.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Abu Hasna explained that the number of trucks currently entering Gaza is higher than the average before the ceasefire, but stressed that these amounts remain far below the massive needs of the population.
He added that occupation authorities continue to block hundreds of essential items, including health, sanitation, water, and food supplies, while allowing more goods for the commercial sector than for humanitarian organizations.
Abu Hasna confirmed that the majority of Gaza’s residents depend entirely on aid, as purchasing power has collapsed, leaving only a small number of UN employees and some Palestinian Authority staff with limited means.
He noted that humanitarian groups request vital materials such as spare parts for desalination and sewage plants, medical equipment, and international staff, but Israel rejects most of these requests, approving only basic items like canned food, flour, and limited medicines.
Abu Hasna warned that this situation could push Gaza back to square one, pointing out that recent rainfall mixed with sewage due to destroyed infrastructure, causing the collapse of tens of thousands of tents.
Meanwhile, waste continues to accumulate, and sewage water floods narrow streets near displaced persons’ tents in southern Gaza, leaving children exposed to disease and epidemics, according to testimonies from the displaced.
Municipal officials told Al Jazeera’s Hani Al-Shaer that the current fuel crisis is the worst since the war began two years ago, crippling municipal services. Vehicles, already in poor condition, have stopped operating due to fuel shortages, while Israel has blocked the entry of new ones.
Civil Defense teams also face severe challenges from the fuel shortage, preventing them from reaching distress areas promptly, whether for rescue operations during storms or for retrieving victims and removing hazards threatening civilians.
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