The fuel reserves in the Gaza Strip are on the brink and the tragedy looms even more over civilians. The operation of hospitals, water distribution and humanitarian aid in general will be affected if fuel does not arrive imminently, warns the United Nations Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA).

The most dramatic case, if any can be highlighted among the horror, is that of 130 babies. The doctors themselves warn of the humanitarian catastrophe that threatens them. “The lives of 130 premature babies in Gaza are in imminent danger due to lack of fuel. The world cannot just watch these babies die because of the siege on Gaza“, denounces the executive director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, Melanie Ward.

Faced with this situation, he asks “world leaders to demand that Israel urgently allow fuel to enter Gaza hospitals. Not acting is condemning these babies to death.”

There are six neonatal units in Gaza hospitals, including Shifa and Nasser hospitals, where doctors caring for premature babies have already made public the urgent plea for fuel to save the lives of the babies in their care. Along these lines, UNRWA reiterates its call to all parties “and those who have influence over them” to “immediately allow the supply of fuel to the Gaza Strip and ensure that the fuel is used strictly to avoid a collapse of the response.” “humanitarian”.

“Without electricity we will lose everyone in five minutes”

From the Shifa hospital, one of the largest in Gaza, the head of the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit describes the situation. “All the babies here are underweight and need intensive care 24 hours a day, but we lack basic medications, such as caffeine citrate and antibiotics such as ampicillin, gentamicin and surfactants. We have fans, but now seven fans are not working because we do not have the proper cables to operate them. We are only working with 10 ventilators, which is a clear sign that the failure of this department is looming,” he predicts. He adds: “We appeal to everyone to send the necessary medical supplies for this critical department or else , we will face a major catastrophe, especially if the electricity is cut off in these apartments where there are 55 babies: we will lose everyone who needs electricity in five minutes.”

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, explains that have diverted what little fuel they have left “to the most essential life-saving services, including incubators, But we don’t know how long they will last.”

Hospitals on the brink of collapse

UNRWA further notes that Shifa currently treats about 5,000 patients, when its theoretical capacity is 700, to which must be added the 45,000 internally displaced people sheltered in the facilities. “A large number of patients are treated on the ground, as there are not enough beds,” says the report from the UN humanitarian agency, which recalls that the 17 existing hospitals in the north of the strip, the area that Israel has ordered evacuation, they continue to operate due to the risk that many patients would run if they were transferred.

The United Nations also recalls that 16 healthcare workers have died in the hostilities, in addition to 29 employees of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), the main humanitarian aid body that can still work in Gaza. This agency warned on Sunday that it only has fuel left for the next three days, necessary to power, for example, hospitals or water desalination plants.

Overcrowding in schools

Overcrowding in hospitals is repeated in UNRWA schools and other facilities now used to shelter internally displaced people in Gaza (1.4 million in total). Some 700,000 people live with relatives, 71,000 in schools, 101,000 in hospitals, churches and other public buildings, and 580,000 in schools and other UNRWA sheltersmany of them designed to accommodate between 1,500 and 2,000 people each but which currently accommodate double or triple that (and one in Khan Yunis accommodates 21,000).

“To ensure a safe environment, at night women and children remain in the classrooms, while men and adolescent boys sleep outside, in the school playground,” the United Nations reports in its daily report.

The United Nations warns once again that many Israeli attacks are taking place in areas of southern Gaza that Israel had ordered to evacuate, like those that in the last 24 hours affected three residential buildings in Khan Yunis and Rafah, and caused the death of 38 people. “Hundreds, possibly thousands of displaced people are returning to northern Gaza, due to the continuous bombing in the south and the problems of finding suitable accommodation,” they emphasize.