GAZA CITY, Palestine

Gaza’s civil defense said Tuesday that most of its emergency vehicles have ceased operations due to a lack of fuel, raising alarms about worsening humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

“We declare the cessation of operations for most civil defense vehicles in Gaza Governorate due to insufficient fuel. Currently, we are operating with only one water tanker and one rescue vehicle,” the agency said in a statement.

The statement emphasized that since mid-November, emergency crews have been unable to respond to many citizen calls or reach sites of Israeli strikes, warning" “This heralds an impending humanitarian catastrophe that adds to the suffering of our people in Gaza as the Israeli aggression continues.”

The civil defense also cautioned that the fuel shortage, compounded by the displacement of thousands from northern Gaza, is severely hampering the ability to address escalating humanitarian needs across the region.

Since Oct. 5, Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza to allegedly prevent Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 6,000 others in the Israeli onslaught, according to local health authorities. Overall, nearly 44,000 people have been killed since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Israel has been restricting fuel deliveries to the besieged enclave, providing only minimal amounts that fail to meet the needs of the humanitarian crisis.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio