UN releases $500,000 for fuel purchase to address power outages in Gaza Strip

The United Nations has approved the allocation of $500,000 for the purchase of emergency fuel to maintain the delivery of essential services at hospitals and other emergency medical facilities in the Gaza Strip of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, following severe power outages.

“With power outages at 20 hours a day and emergency fuel supplies running out, basic services are grinding to a halt,” warned the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities, Robert Piper, in a news release.

Concerned about the deteriorating energy situation in the Gaza Strip, he called for swift action from Israeli and Palestinian authorities and members of the international community to protect the provision of critical basic services to Gaza's 1.9 million residents.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, fuel to power back-up generators at seven out of 13 hospitals in Gaza is expected to run out within three days. Already, residents of high-rise buildings no longer receive regular water supply, due to lack of power for pumps to reach higher levels, and some 110 million litres of raw or poorly treated sewage is flowing into the Mediterranean Sea every day due to lack of energy to treat it.

The allocation was approved by the oPt Humanitarian Fund, led by the Humanitarian Coordinator.