Civil Defense in Gaza: Fuel has run out in the south and center of the besieged Strip

Amid the tight Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for nearly two months, and the occupation’s prevention of the entry of any aid or supplies to the besieged Palestinians, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza reported that the fuel allocated to operate its vehicles has run out in the southern and central Gaza Strip, a situation that could threaten a humanitarian disaster as Israel continues its war of extermination.

Civil Defense spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Basal, said that approximately eight of the 12 vehicles operating in the Gaza Strip are out of service due to the lack of fuel necessary to operate them in the coming period. He pointed out that each of the vehicles available to the Civil Defense requires approximately 100 liters of fuel per day to operate, at a time when the occupation has completely prevented the entry of fuel since imposing its tight blockade on the Strip on March 2.

Basal explained that the Israeli occupation essentially prevents the Civil Defense from obtaining the necessary fuel directly, while the organization has been obtaining it from international and UN bodies since the beginning of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023, or from a number of organizations active in relief work. Basal emphasized that the continued obstruction of fuel entry and the prevention of its arrival could lead to a complete halt to Civil Defense services, which means that no martyrs or wounded will be recovered as the war escalates since Israeli forces resumed it on March 18, after a fragile truce that lasted less than two months.