Fuel now the most vital commodity in Gaza amid fears of health care collapse

Fuel is essential to bring water, food and health care to Gazans in dire need, but supplies have not been provided in aid convoys to date, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

Since Saturday 21 October, three convoys of humanitarian supplies have reached the Gaza Strip from Egypt, a total of 54 trucks. “This breakthrough came after two weeks of full siege with no water, no medical supplies, no humanitarian supplies, no food and no fuel going in,” Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) told reporters in Geneva.

Without fuel, “trucks cannot move and generators cannot produce electricity for hospitals, bakeries and water desalination plants,” stressed Ms. Alrifai.

The 54 aid trucks contained a mix of food, medical supplies and non-food items. They are a small fraction of the 500 trucks that used to enter Gaza every day before Hamas’s deadly and unprecedented 7 October incursion into Israel, including commercial trucks and at least 100 aid trucks, some 45 of them carrying fuel. “We see that the trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people in Gaza,” she emphasized.

Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency WHO warned that as hostilities continue, Gaza’s health system is disintegrating. “One third of hospitals now are non-functioning just at the time when the medical burden is enormous. Around two thirds of clinics are non-functional,” said Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Emergencies Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Some WHO medicines and supplies from the three convoys allowed into the enclave through the Rafah crossing last Saturday have already been delivered to three key referral hospitals in southern Gaza and to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. But the UN health agency remains unable to distribute essential health supplies to key hospitals in northern Gaza due to the lack of security guarantees.

Awaiting WHO supplies are some of “the most important health centers in Gaza such as Al-Shifa hospital, which has a bed occupancy rate of 150 per cent, and the Turkish Hospital, which is the main provider of services for cancer patients. “We do not have security guarantees to deliver that aid,” explained Dr. Brennan.

WHO calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for protected humanitarian operations so these supplies can be delivered safely.

With 1.4 million displaced people across the territory - almost two thirds of Gaza's population-, overcrowding combined with poor sanitation and lack of access to clean water is a major challenge to the health system. Briefing reporters from Cairo, Dr. Brennan said “there's only between one and three litres of clean water per person per day available to the displaced right now. And by international standards, we would expect at the bare minimum 15 litres per person per day.”

As people turn to contaminated water, the UN health agency fears that the spread of infectious diseases is just a matter of time. Respiratory tract infections and cases of diarrhoea are already on the rise growing but chicken pox and skin infections including scabies and head lice are also expected. 

More than 5,000 people are reported to have been killed across Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since Israel began its bombardment in response to the Hamas attack, in which at least 1,400 people were killed and 222 taken hostage.

Story:    Gaza: humanitarian situation and aid – UNRWA, WHO

Speakers:  

• Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications (from Amman)
• Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region (from Cairo)

TRT: 2’44”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 Oct. 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva press briefing

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
2. Cutaway: wide shot, press room, UN Geneva.
3. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “Since the 21st of October, three convoys of humanitarian supplies have gone into the Strip with a total of 54 trucks. This breakthrough came after two weeks of full, full siege of the Gaza Strip with no water, no medical supplies, no humanitarian supplies, no food and no fuel going in.”
4. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “Almost more important than anything else is fuel. So far, fuel has not been allowed into the Strip. Fuel is extremely urgent because without fuel, the trucks themselves cannot move. Without fuel, the generators cannot produce electricity for hospitals, for bakeries and for the water desalination plants.”
6. Cutaway: close up shot of journalist in the press room, UN Geneva.
7. SOUNDBTE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “We see that the trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people on the Strip.”
8. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
9. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “One third of hospitals now are non-functioning just at the time when the medical burden is enormous. Around two thirds of clinics are non-functional.”
10. Cutaway: medium shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
11. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “We keep getting asked are we delivering to the biggest hospital in Gaza, that's al-Shifa hospital in the north, which already has a center, has a bed occupancy rate of 150 per cent. We've been asked if we've been able to deliver to the Turkish hospital, which is perhaps the biggest provider of cancer services in Gaza. The answer is no. The answer is no because we do not have security guarantees to deliver that aid.”
12. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
13. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “We understand there's only between one and three liters of clean water per person per day available to the displaced right now. And by international standards, we would expect at the bare minimum 15 liters per person per day.”
14. Various shots of press conference room, UN Geneva.