A fuel tanker crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP
A fuel tanker crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP
A fuel tanker crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP
A fuel tanker crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP

Aid to Gaza slows as fuel shortages bring UN humanitarian efforts close to collapse


Kamal Tabikha
  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

Another round of lorries carrying aid entered the Gaza strip from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, the Egyptian Red Crescent said on Wednesday, without disclosing the exact number.

Moving foreign citizens from the enclave continued on Wednesday, with the Gaza border authority issuing another list of foreigners who have been approved for departure from Gaza.

The list comprised about 600 people.

The first shipment of fuel was allowed by Israel into the Gaza strip on Tuesday night, a volunteer who delivered the shipment told The National.

The shipment, however, was not sent to Gaza’s hospitals where services have largely collapsed due to a shortage of fuel, but was received by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which said several of its vehicles had run out of fuel in the enclave.

Thomas White, the director of UNRWA affairs, confirmed in a post on X, formally Twitter, on Wednesday that one shipment of fuel amounting to 23,027 litres or half a tanker, was received by the organisation in Gaza.

“This is only 9 per cent of what we need daily to sustain life-saving activities,” Mr White wrote on X.

The UNRWA said on Tuesday that its humanitarian activities in Gaza were on the verge of collapse due to a lack of fuel, with Mr White saying in an earlier post on X that any aid coming into Gaza could not be distributed without the immediate entry of fuel.

Israel has thus far not allowed any shipments of fuel to enter the enclave, which it controls through checkpoints set up at the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt. It claims the fuel could be used by militants and not civilians.

“UNRWA set off alarm bells over the fuel situation three weeks ago, warning about its fast-depleting supplies, and the impact on life-saving operations,” the organisation said, “Since then, we have heavily rationed the use of fuel and accessed pre-existing, limited amounts stored in a depot inside the Gaza Strip, through close co-ordination with Israeli authorities.”

Saudi ambassador in Egypt Osama bin Ahmed Nugali visited the crossing on Wednesday to express the kingdom’s solidarity with the Palestinian people, Egyptian state-affiliated media reported.

Saudi Arabia has thus far sent seven planes carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the last of which arrived on Saturday in the Egyptian North Sinai city of Al Arish, where all aid to the enclave is co-ordinated.

Kuwait and Qatar are the third and fourth largest donors of aid to Gaza since the start of the war with Egypt being the first and Libya the second, according to the Red Crescent.

Kuwait and Qatar have sent 412 and 286 tonnes respectively since the start of the war.

The Book of Collateral Damage

Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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If you go
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How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
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Dust storm

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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

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Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.

Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.

"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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ESSENTIALS

The flights 
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
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  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G
PAKISTAN SQUAD

Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah. 

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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Updated: November 16, 2023, 3:36 AM`