Amid dwindling energy supplies in Gaza, Israel's massive bombing campaign, and a potential ground invasion, the WHO is demanding that the Palestinians be allowed fuel supplies to power its medical facilities and "safe, sustained and uninterrupted access to Gaza" to tackle the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis there. 

After 19 days of airstrikes and shelling by Israel's military and a near-total land, sea and air blockade of the Palestinian territory, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said one of the only ways to offset the catastrophic healthcare situation in Gaza was getting fuel into the enclave.

"There is a big need for fuel right now in Gaza, not only to run generators that provide electricity to hospitals, but also for desalination plants so there could be clean water for the population, but also for the health facilities," Jasarevic told CGTN Europe via videocall from Cairo.

"Simply, you cannot run hospitals without electricity. You cannot not have lights in your hospital. There are surgical theaters, there are incubators, there are dialysis machines, there are other machines that simply need electricity. So this is why when we say fuel is equally important as medical supplies."

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He added that as medical facilities in Gaza struggled both under massive overcrowding and dwindling fuel supplies, it was proving impossible to get vital medical aid to the tens of thousands in need of regular assistance, such as pregnant women, newborns, those with chronic diseases, and people undergoing cancer treatment. 

"There is a really big number of people from mostly vulnerable groups in the population who need hospitals and health centers to keep running. However, right now there are 1,235 hospitals that are out of service and others are really rationing with little fuel that they have."

Despite blocking its own borders to Gaza and essentially stopping traffic through Egypt's Rafah crossing with Palestine, Israel has so far blamed Hamas for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, asserting that it was now allowing medicine, food, and water into the enclave. However, Jasarevic said humanitarian access into the Strip remained highly limited. ‌

"What we know from the WHO side is that we were only able to bring four trucks of medical supplies on Saturday, and since then we were not able to bring more. That's nowhere near enough of what is needed right now. And again, besides medical supplies, we need fuel because we need hospitals to be running, otherwise the lives of patients will be in danger."

Another ongoing issue for aid agencies trying to reach Palestinians, according to Jasarevic is the lack of security guarantees for those bringing supplies, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel has given a blanket order for the entire population to evacuate - including its healthcare facilities.

"There are hospitals in the north of Gaza that are hosting more than 2,000 patients right now, and they are also running out of medical supplies and fuel. So with all these people - again, we are talking about babies, people who have renal problems, who need dialysis, people on ventilators, the 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza… there is a really big, big portion of the population that depends on healthcare, and healthcare requires things like fuel, clean water and medical supplies."

As for the WHO’s priorities in Gaza, Jasarevic .said the key thing now was getting safe, sustained and uninterrupted access to Gaza. "We need to be sure that we can bring as much material as we need, and right now on the Egyptian side of the border, we have relief trucks waiting."

"We also need to make sure that the trucks, the medical workers who are bringing those supplies to hospitals, who are receiving them, will not be a target," he added. "Eventually, what is really needed is the end of hostilities. Even if we bring in medical material, medicines, even fuel, if the fighting continues, the bombardment continues, there will be more casualties, there will be more wounded people, there will be more deaths."

‌As for the effect of a potential Israeli ground invasion on the humanitarian relief effort in Gaza, Jasarevic says that the necessity of getting immediate medical attention and supplies into the Strip will be even more important than now. 

"If you have fighting, if you have bombardments, there will be a high number of casualties. So people with burn wounds, people with fractures, people who get pieces of metal in their body from bombs – these people need to be treated in 60 minutes following their injury, otherwise the chances of survival go down. What we need is the possibility to treat those people. But eventually, if you have active fighting in any zone, it's difficult to see how hospitals can continue to work. 

A land invasion would also drastically increase the danger for those trying to provide healthcare in the Strip. "We have already recorded more than 60 attacks on hospitals in Gaza, 16 health workers have already lost their lives on duty, providing care to people," said. The total number of aid workers killed under Israeli strikes is believed to be ....

"Healthcare workers in Gaza are doing an amazing job," said Jasarevic. "At the same time, they fear for their lives, they have to take care of the safety of their family. And at the same time, they are really doing their best to treat people. So what we can do is try to help them so they can do their job."

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