he Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip announced today that it has halted operations to recover the bodies of Palestinian martyrs from beneath the rubble and destroyed homes after its vehicles stopped operating due to the fuel shortage crisis in the Strip.
Mahmoud Basal, who serves as spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense, told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the agency has suspended the movement of its vehicles because the minimum amount of fuel required for humanitarian interventions was unavailable, as the occupation has prevented the entry of the required fuel quantities into the Strip.
He noted that the suspension includes missions to retrieve the bodies of martyrs from
under the rubble, as well as the inability to complete tasks related to removing hazards from buildings at risk of collapse or partially destroyed as a result of Israeli shelling.
He called on all international bodies, institutions, and humanitarian organizations to work toward supplying rescue teams, civil defense crews, and humanitarian workers with the fuel needed to operate vehicles and equipment, in order to ensure the continuity of humanitarian services in the required manner.
In another development, Basal told QNA that civil defense crews no longer have sufficient capacity to respond to distress calls related to the weather-related emergencies that affected the Strip in recent days.
Gaza is suffering from a severe fuel and energy crisis due to the Israeli occupation’s tightening of the blockade and the closure of all border crossings into the Strip. The situation has not changed even after the cessation of hostilities, as the entry of fuel, reconstruction materials, debris removal equipment, and essential humanitarian service supplies continues to be blocked.