Tag: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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Essential services on verge of shutting down in Gaza due to lack of emergency fuel by United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.
“Since 16 July, the Israeli authorities have prohibited the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip, in the context of tightened import and export restrictions… The recent developments have exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis driven by 11 years of Israeli blockade that has raised concerns over collective punishment and human rights violations, alongside an unresolved internal Palestinian political divide…
“At least one hospital has been forced to shut down for a few hours, and services are being dramatically reduced at others. Given ongoing blackouts of about 20 hours a day, if fuel does not come in immediately, people’s lives will be at stake, with the most vulnerable patients, like cardiac patients, those on dialysis, and newborns in intensive care, at highest risk.”
… hospitals have reduced diagnostic, sterilization and cleaning services, increasing the risk of infections amongst patients. Elective surgeries are being further reduced… Additionally, the reduced functioning of water and sanitation facilities risks an increase of waterborne disease and outbreaks… In addition to further reductions in water supplies, this would also potentially lead to sewerage overflowing into inhabited areas.”

Continue reading at https://www.ochaopt.org/content/essential-services-verge-shutting-down-gaza-due-lack-emergency-fuel

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UN: Electricity crisis brings Gaza to verge of disaster on United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

This is another one of those rare occasions when we archive a statement that doesn’t explicitly include the word genocide. We can only guess at the reasoning behind UN OCHA’s decision to use evocative words rather than legal terminology to describe the situation in Gaza, but we archive this statement because it marks another stage of deterioration in what we analyse to be Israel’s genocide against the indigenous Palestinian people.

We hope to see, in the very near future, statements from the United Nations that are less that of damage control, and more of a strategical outline for achieving accountability, and with that, an end to crimes on a mass scale.

Emergency fuel for critical facilities in Gaza will become exhausted within the next ten days, the United Nations warned today, noting an urgent need for donor support to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe driven by the energy crisis… Currently at risk are emergency and diagnostic services, like MRIs, CT and x-rays, intensive care units and operating theatres in 13 public hospitals; some 55 sewage pools; 48 desalination plants; and solid waste collection capacity… “Hospitals have already begun to close. Without funding, more service providers will be forced to suspend operations over the coming weeks, and the situation will deteriorate dramatically, with potential impacts on the entire population. We cannot allow this to happen.”

Continue reading at https://mailchi.mp/un/0gxh7zgz0n-543817?e=20b385474c