The General Directorate of Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip announced that 50% of its services have effectively stopped due to the lack of fuel needed to operate its vehicles.

The directorate said its teams have been facing severe difficulties for weeks in securing the fuel required to run the remaining essential vehicles and equipment, including firefighting, rescue, and ambulance vehicles, as well as gasoline generators used for removing hazards and retrieving those trapped. It added that the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) continues to impose restrictive and obstructive procedures that prevent the delivery of the required quantities of fuel, despite repeated appeals to provide sufficient amounts. This has caused a major paralysis in the teams’ ability to carry out humanitarian missions.

The directorate affirmed that the Civil Defense teams will continue working with the maximum remaining capacity and will not stop fulfilling their humanitarian duty.