· Up to 800,000 to lose aid due to blockade
· Israel cut supplies after killings at border crossings

The UN is to halt food handouts for up to 800,000 Palestinians from
today because of a severe fuel shortage in Gaza brought on by an
Israeli economic blockade.

John Ging, the director of operations
in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian
refugees, said there had been a “totally inadequate” supply of fuel
from Israel to Gaza for 10 months until it was finally halted two weeks
ago. “The devastating humanitarian impact is entirely predictable,” he
said.

A shortage of diesel and petrol means UN food assistance to
650,000 Palestinian refugees will stop today, and aid from the World
Food Programme for another 127,000 Palestinians due in the coming days
will also be halted. “The collective punishment of the population of
Gaza, which has been instituted for months now, has failed,” said
Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East. Last
year, after Hamas seized full control of Gaza, Israel imposed an
economic blockade, preventing exports and allowing in only limited
supplies of food, fuel and aid. It halted supplies of fuel for
transport two weeks ago after militants attacked a fuel crossing and
killed two Israeli workers. Thirteen Israeli soldiers were injured in
an attack on Saturday at a crossing used to deliver food and aid. The
attacks have been condemned by the UN.

Hours before Gaza’s sole
power plant was to shut down, Israel pumped in 1m litres of industrial
diesel, enough to last around three days. Gaza’s streets have largely
been emptied of cars. On Tuesday, its central pharmacy ran out of fuel
to refrigerate vaccines during power cuts. The main laundry at Shifa
hospital, which washes sheets and uniforms for six hospitals and all
government clinics, has less than a day’s fuel.

Around
three-quarters of the 4,000 agricultural wells in Gaza depend on
fuel-powered pumps. Fuel shortages have already drastically increased
food prices. A kilogram of tomatoes has risen from one shekel to six
shekels in Gaza City.

“We remain committed to not allowing a
humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the
Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. “But you cannot talk about the
difficulties in delivering fuel to the Gaza Strip without stating and
restating the fact that terrorists under the auspices of Hamas have
deliberately targeted the fuel supply depot. It’s almost as if their
agenda is nihilistic.”