Al Jazeera
About 50 percent of Gaza’s emergency services have stopped as severe fuel shortages cripple rescue, firefighting, and evacuation operations.
In a statement, the civil defence agency accused the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) of imposing “restrictive and obstructive” measures that prevented it from receiving fuel needed to run fire trucks, ambulances and generators.
The limited distribution system UNOPS adopted is far below operational needs and has caused a major shutdown of humanitarian work, it said.
Teams have been unable to reach thousands of damaged and unstable buildings, and search-and-recovery efforts could halt entirely. Firefighting and emergency response capacity has also sharply diminished, the agency added.
UNOPS is “fully responsible” for any delays in rescue work that result in civilian deaths, it said, urging an immediate removal of fuel restrictions.
In a statement, the civil defence agency accused the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) of imposing “restrictive and obstructive” measures that prevented it from receiving fuel needed to run fire trucks, ambulances and generators.
The limited distribution system UNOPS adopted is far below operational needs and has caused a major shutdown of humanitarian work, it said.
Teams have been unable to reach thousands of damaged and unstable buildings, and search-and-recovery efforts could halt entirely. Firefighting and emergency response capacity has also sharply diminished, the agency added.
UNOPS is “fully responsible” for any delays in rescue work that result in civilian deaths, it said, urging an immediate removal of fuel restrictions.
