By Prensa Latina
United Nations : A UN humanitarian agency warned on Monday that food reserves and other supplies destined for the Palestinian population will be exhausted within two days in large parts of the Gaza Strip.
The Strip is now in darkness as its main power plant shut down after Israel blocked fuel supplies in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.
“Everything would go back to normal” if militants stopped firing missiles, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said.
Israel has also reduced the flow of gasoline and diesel, but not heating oil and cooking gas, he said.
Since Friday the Israeli government closed borders crossing into Gaza, preventing access of humanitarian assistance depended upon by a great part of more than 1,400,000 people in that Palestinian territory.
If Gaza continues in darkness, our food reserves and other supplies will be exhausted within the next two days, worsening the crisis already suffered by the civilian population in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) alerted.
UNRWA General Commissioner Karen Koning Abuzayd said, “We are very worried and almost fearful at what is happening.”
She explained that UNRWA has had to share fuel with some local hospitals, among them Children’s Hospital, because the whole territory is running out of gas, and factories and gas stations closed after Gaza’s electricity generating station was turned off.
She added that weather conditions also aren’t favorable, it’s cold and there are no sources of heat or water services, and energy generation is insufficient.
“Hospitals are only practicing emergency surgery. There is no transfer of patients out of Gaza, so people cannot go somewhere else in search of medical assistance”, she said.