Fuel shortage forces Gaza hospital to halt services as Israeli siege deepens

A hospital in the war-torn Gaza Strip was forced to suspend medical services on Thursday due to fuel shortages caused by an ongoing Israeli siege, despite the ceasefire signed in October.

Ahmed Muhanna, director of al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera Mubasher that, “with a heavy heart”, staff were forced to pause most services.

He stressed that depriving health institutions of fuel prevents thousands of Palestinians from accessing vital medical care.

The hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, provides maternity services and is caring for more than a dozen children suffering from malnutrition.

Muhanna said that at least 30 children will be transferred to other hospitals due to a lack of medical capacity.

The hospital, which typically records around 1,500 births each month, is also estimated to handle approximately 30 percent of all deliveries in the enclave.

The hospital’s emergency and maternity units will remain operational for the most critical cases. 

“If there is a complete cessation of medical services, a real crisis will unfold,” the director said, urging the international community to intervene.

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The fuel shortage is affecting essential services across the Gaza Strip.

Following a near-total ban on essential items, including fuel, during the two-year genocide in Gaza, Israel was obligated under the October ceasefire to allow 600 aid trucks - including 50 fuel trucks - to enter the territory.

However, Israeli authorities have so far failed to abide by the terms of the agreement, continuing a siege on the Gaza Strip that restricts the entry of essential supplies.

According to the Gaza-based Government Media Office, only around 10 percent of the agreed fuel supply has entered the Strip since October.

“Hospitals, bakeries, and water and sewage treatment plants are virtually paralysed, exacerbating the suffering of the civilian population,” the statement added. 

Air strikes 

Israel is also continuing to attack Palestinians across the enclave 76 days into the ceasefire. 

On Thursday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man identified as Sami Ahmed Attia Abu Darabi in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling and quadcopter drone fire were also reported overnight.

The shelling came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to escalate attacks on Wednesday. 

Netanyahu accused Hamas of continuing "to violate the ceasefire and President Trump’s 20 point plan" in a post on X, claiming that the movement detonated a bomb that wounded an Israeli soldier in Rafah. 

Hamas denied involvement in the incident, which took place in an area under Israeli control, hinting that it was probably a result of explosive remnants planted by the army itself.