UNRWA: People of Gaza 'Running Out Of Time and Options

Protesters demanding job opportunities rally in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City in August. (AFP)
Protesters demanding job opportunities rally in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City in August. (AFP)
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UNRWA: People of Gaza 'Running Out Of Time and Options

Protesters demanding job opportunities rally in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City in August. (AFP)
Protesters demanding job opportunities rally in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City in August. (AFP)

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned Wednesday that the people of Gaza were "running out of time and options" as Israel's war against Hamas grinds on.

"They face bombardment, deprivation and disease in an ever-shrinking space," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.

Lazzarini described the situation in Gaza as "hell on earth".

People in the Palestinian territory were "facing the darkest chapter of their history since 1948, and it has been a painful history", he said, AFP reported.

Now in its third month, the bloodiest-ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7.

Israel's relentless bombardment and ground operation in Gaza has left the territory in ruins, killing more than 18,400 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced and are receiving goods from only around 100 aid trucks per day.

"We are very far from an adequate humanitarian response," Lazzarini said.

When aid was delivered, it was often not more than a can of tuna or beans and one bottle of water for a large family to share, he added.

He described seeing people halting an aid truck and in desperation and swallowing down the food found inside where they stood in the street.

"The people of Gaza are now crammed into less than one-third of the original territory near the Egyptian border, he added, hinting that the dire situation might soon spark an exodus.

"It is unrealistic to think that people will remain resilient in the face of unlivable conditions of such magnitude, especially when the border is so close," he said.

The city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, the only crossing where aid is entering Gaza, has seen its population explode from 280,000 to more than a million, Lazzarini said.

And while most aid delivery in Gaza depends on UNRWA, he warned the agency's capacities were "on the verge of collapse".

Addressing journalists at the same event, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi also warned of the danger of large population movements out of Gaza.

Any such exodus "would be extremely destabilizing for Egypt, for the Sinai region, and it would make a problematic Palestinian problem more difficult", he said.

It is vital that any evacuation of people out of the devastated territory "is not forced", he said.

"Since these people are under bombardment and in a very difficult situation, it must be said that a ceasefire is the only way out of this impasse."



Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)

Egypt needs to import around $1.18 billion worth of mazut fuel oil and natural gas to end persistent power cuts exacerbated by consecutive heat waves, its Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a televised address on Tuesday.

It hopes the shipments will arrive in full around the third week of July, by which point the government aims to stop cutting power during the remaining summer months, he added.

It has already started contracting for 300,000 tons of mazut worth $180 million to boost its strategic reserves which are expected to arrive early next week.

Egypt's government on Monday extended daily power cuts to three hours from two hours previously in response to a surge in domestic electricity consumption during the latest heat wave.

These three-hour cuts will continue until the end of June, before returning to two hours in the first half of July with the aim of stopping completely for the rest of the summer, Madbouly said on Tuesday.

Egyptian social media has lit up with complaints about the impact of the blackouts, with some saying they have been forced to purchase private power generators.

The problem has particularly affected teenagers preparing for the crucial high school certificate, with some posting about students studying by candlelight and others in coffee shops.

A wedding hall owner in the coastal city of Port Said said he would turn one of his ballrooms into a study hall.

Since July last year, load shedding linked to falling gas production, rising demand and a shortage of foreign currency has led to scheduled two-hour daily power cuts in most areas.

"We had said that we planned to end load shedding by the end of 2024... we do not have a power generation problem or a network problem, we are unable to provide fuel," Madbouly said on Tuesday.

"With the increase in consumption related to the major development and population increase, there has been a lot of pressure on our dollar resources," he added.

He said production in a neighboring country's gas field had come to a full halt for 12 hours leading to an interruption in the supply, without naming the country or the gas field.

Egypt's Abu Qir Fertilizers said on Tuesday three of its plants had halted production because their supply of natural gas was cut.