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Gaza City
Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned that a continued shortage of fuel would have “catastrophic consequences” for hundreds of patients.
Officials at the ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Islamist movement Hamas, warned Wednesday that medical services at the Beit Hanoon Hospital in northern Gaza would soon stop completely due to the fuel shortage.
“This means that 450,000 people will be deprived of the services and medical care that the hospital provides,” said Abdulatif al Hajj, director of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
He said the hospital had already been forced to stop doing surgical operations.
Ashraf al-Qedra, the Health Ministry spokesman, had warned on Tuesday that generators would stop in the coming days, threatening the lives of 800 patients with renal failure who are dependent on dialysis machines.
Generators are used in Gaza during the hours when there is no general electricity supply. The electricity situation has improved since October, when Qatar delivered fuel to Gaza and a second turbine in the enclave’s only power plant started operating. Fuel for generators at public hospitals, however, is funded by the World Health Organization, and Hamas says it does not have enough.
Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza for over a decade, justifying it with security concerns. Some 2 million people live in Gaza in difficult conditions including a lack of drinking water.
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17/01/2019
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