Gaza – a new displacement in Khan Yunis, and the fuel crisis threatens vital facilities and communications

In its latest update, today, Wednesday, the office stated that estimates indicate that up to 80,000 people live in these two neighborhoods, recalling that nearly 85 percent of Gaza lands are currently subject to displacement orders or fall within military areas, which strongly impedes people’s ability to obtain basic humanitarian support and the ability of relief workers to reach the needy.

The OCHA office quoted colleagues on the ground, who work in the field of water, sewage and hygiene, that the “line tank” has become out of access as a result of the last displacement order. This facility is considered as the main center for the distribution of water in Khan Yunis and a vital supply point for the upcoming water through the Israeli pipeline in the region. He cautioned that any damage to the tank may lead to the collapse of the main water distribution system in the city, with severe humanitarian consequences.

Mary health conditions

The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also warned that these displacement orders are still a great pressure on vital services and pushing people to increasingly smaller areas of Gaza’s lands.

He stated that from the collapse of the ceasefire in March until yesterday, about 714,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced again in various parts of Gaza, with nearly 29 thousand people displaced within only 24 hours between Sunday and Monday. He pointed out that many existing shelters suffer from severe overcrowding, and bad hygiene conditions, which constitutes severe risks to public health.

Partners working in the field of health, water, sanitation and hygiene reported that acute water diarrhea rates throughout Gaza reached 39 percent among patients receiving health consultations.

This rise is due to the lack of sufficient amounts of clean drinking water and home water to shelters, which exacerbates health conditions and miserable sanitation. The governorates of Gaza and Khan Younis are witnessing the worst levels of acute water diarrhea, due to the severe overcrowding in locations and shelters, according to the OCHA office.

The repercussions of running out of fuel

And the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs quoted the shelter partners that 97 percent of the sites they wiped reported that there are displaced people sleeping in the open. He stressed that the unrestricted flow of supplies through multiple transit points over a sustainable period of time is very important to meet the needs of people and prevent the deterioration of the desperate situation already.

Meanwhile, Ocha office said that the depletion of fuel stocks continues to harm relief operations, restricting the ability of the United Nations and its humanitarian partners to respond.

He reported that the Israeli authorities refused today an attempt to deliver some of the remaining fuel stocks to the north. This refusal comes in the wake of a successful delivery of diesel yesterday, Tuesday, from the remaining stock of the World Health Organization to Al -Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to prevent further closure of vital services.

The World Health Organization said that the facility is very crowded and suffers from a severe shortage of resources, as its family is full, and its patients are receiving treatment again on the hospital floor.

The risk of interruption of communications

The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed that unless fuel stocks are renewed immediately, Gaza may face a complete interruption of communications, which strongly hinders human access and coordination, and prevents affected societies from receiving important information.

He pointed out that water, sanitation, hygiene, and vital health care facilities have already started to close in some areas, including hospital equipment and services, water transport, water and sewage pumps.

He warned that if the fuel crisis is not addressed soon, the humanitarian workers may find themselves without the regulations and tools necessary to work safely and manage logistics services and distribute humanitarian aid.

He said it is clear that this would put aid and its workers at risk, which may exacerbate a humanitarian crisis that is already bad.