Gaza Strip: Fuel is Running out, Without Fuel, Humanitarian Response Will Stop – UNRWA Statement

22 October 2023

No fuel delivered on the first humanitarian convoy

STATEMENT FROM UNRWA Commissioner-General  PHILIPPE LAZZARINI

AMMAN –

“In three days, UNRWA will run out of fuel, critical for our humanitarian response across the Gaza Strip.

“Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance.

“No fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza.

“UNRWA is the largest humanitarian actor in the Gaza Strip. Without fuel, we will fail the people of Gaza whose needs are growing by the hour, under our watch. This cannot and should not happen.

“I call on all parties and those with influence over them to immediately allow fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip and to ensure that fuel is strictly used to prevent a collapse of the humanitarian response.

“UNRWA is currently hosting more than half a million people out of nearly 1 million displaced across the Gaza Strip.

“I welcome yesterday’s convoy into Gaza, the first in two weeks of a very tight siege impacting 2 million people. It is, however, far from enough. To be meaningful, Gaza needs an uninterrupted and scaled up humanitarian supply line.”