Fuel shortages halt half of Gaza’s emergency services

Roughly half of Gaza’s emergency services have shut down as severe fuel shortages paralyze rescue, firefighting and evacuation work, Al Jazeera reported.

The Civil Defence agency accused the UN Office for Project Services of imposing what it described as restrictive and obstructive measures that prevented it from receiving the fuel needed to operate fire trucks, ambulances, and generators.

Teams are unable to reach thousands of damaged and unstable buildings, and officials warn that search and recovery operations could come to a complete stop. Firefighting and emergency response capacity has also dropped sharply.