Gaza rescuers say vehicles not working in north for lack of fuel

Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday its vehicles had stopped working in the Palestinian territory's north due to a lack of fuel, warning it could not respond to emergencies.

"All our fire, rescue, and ambulance vehicles have stopped working in Gaza governorate due to the Israeli occupation's continued refusal to provide the necessary diesel to operate them," the rescue agency said in a statement.

"Our crews will not be able to respond to citizens' calls until the Israeli occupation allows humanitarian organisations to bring in the necessary quantities of diesel," it added.

Gaza City and the areas north of it have been particularly hard hit by shortages caused by the war that began over a year ago, leaving the population short on food and forcing health facilities to stop or limit work for lack of fuel for generators.

On Monday, an emergency officer for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Louise Wateridge, told AFP that inhabitants of the cities north of Gaza City had been left "scavenging among the rubble" for food.

An intense Israeli military operation that began on October 6 has made living conditions there particularly poor, and shortages especially acute.

On Friday, Gaza's health ministry had said that hospitals had only two days' worth of fuel left before they would have to restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory was being crippled.

Hamas's attack on October 7 last year resulted in the deaths of 1,207 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,249 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.