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Fuel Crisis in Gaza forces Suspension of UN Food Aid Delivery |
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Saturday, 26 April 2008 |
The UN humanitarian agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, has been
forced to shut down its food distribution in Gaza because a promised shipment of
fuel from Israel has not arrived.
The agency warned yesterday that it is running out of gasoline for its trucks
that deliver aid to 650,000 residents of Gaza. The Deputy Commissioner General
for UNRWA, Filippo Grandi, told UN Radio, that the agency has been in this
situation of uncertainty many times this year, because of the Israeli closure of
crossings into Gaza.
"To run an operation, which is very, very large – 200,000 children in schools,
supporting hundreds of thousands of food aid beneficiaries -- it is unthinkable
to continue to do so in a situation of logistical uncertainty. Not to mention
the consequences on the rest of the population of Gaza, of course, but even
looking only at our operation, the situation is disgraceful."
Mr. Grandi says the only real solution to the energy crisis is to reopen the
crossings to allow in people, goods and services into Gaza. Anything else, he
says, is just a band-aid.
Source: Relief Web
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