The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is further deteriorating due to the closure of the Rafah crossing, with the World Health Organization stating yesterday that the fuel available in southern Gaza is sufficient to operate health services for only three more days.
The spokesperson for the Crossings Authority in Gaza, Hisham Edwan, was quoted by the Russian Sputnik agency as saying, “The Rafah crossing is completely closed, and the Israeli army has prevented the entry of humanitarian aid. If the crossing is not opened in the coming hours, the humanitarian situation in Gaza will worsen.”
He added that the area of Al-Mawasi is not suitable for dense population, and there is no infrastructure. The overcrowding of the population poses a threat of epidemics and serious diseases.
Edwan explained that the Rafah crossing is the only lifeline for the Gaza Strip to the outside world, and if this crossing is closed, a real death sentence for the population of the Strip.
He revealed that the number of trucks on the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side is very large, and the Israeli army is obstructing their entry, while before the war, 500 trucks used to enter daily, in addition to a sufficient stock of foodstuffs.
Regarding the health situation of Gaza residents, Edwan said that the closure of the crossings threatens the lives of patients and the wounded. We have about 70,000 wounded as a result of this war, threatened with death, and the situation will be catastrophic in the sector unless this siege ends.
He denied that receiving any information about the possibility of opening the Kerem Shalom crossing, pointing out the presence of a large number of Israeli soldiers at this crossing.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization stated yesterday that the fuel available in southern Gaza is sufficient to operate health services for only three more days.
It was reported that a shipment of fuel was rejected yesterday. The Director-General of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the World Health Organization has stored some supplies in warehouses and hospitals, but without further flow to Gaza, we cannot continue to support hospitals.
The United Nations Population Fund said that due to the closure of the Rafah crossing, the main maternity hospital in Rafah City in southern Gaza has stopped accepting cases.
The Fund added to Reuters that the hospital, which is the UAE Crescent Maternity Hospital, used to receive about 85 cases per day out of a total of 180 in Gaza before the fighting escalated between Hamas and Israeli forces on the outskirts of Rafah.
About half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people is crowded in Rafah after fleeing from other parts of the Strip during the seven-month-long ongoing war.
