Oxfam asks Israel to increase fuel imports to Gaza

Ma'an
"Households, bakeries and hospitals in Gaza will be left short of cooking gas as the major annual festival of Eid Al-Adha begins," unless Israeli authorities to allow in the daily needed quantities of domestic gas, Oxfam International said Monday.

The appeal followed the release of a report from the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs saying domestic gas imports into Gaza for the first half of November were down 88%. One day after the report was released Israeli officials opened the Nahal Oz Crossing, and transported 257 tons of domestic gas into Gaza.

No deliveries of domestic gas have been reported since.

"Five out of ten households Oxfam talked to on Sunday reported running out of cooking gas," a statement from the organization said. It also repeated concerns expressed by the UN around the shortage of gas at hospitals and the risk to hygiene and cooking abilities at the institutions.

“The people of Gaza should not have to celebrate Eid without being able to cook because their cooking gas supplies have run out ,” Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs was quoted as saying in the statement. “ Limiting the cooking gas needed by families, bakeries and hospitals is collective punishment and must stop.” Full story