New York (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Israeli fuel embargo on Gaza risks blocking humanitarian aid getting through. The alarm has been launched by the United Nations, after an official explained that as of today they will have to halt food aid and other forms of support to over 650 thousand refugees in the Strip.
Meanwhile in Gaza, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) has made it known that if there are no fuel deliveries then a further 500 thousand people in the area will be without aid. Already since yesterday some areas have been in the dark.
At an emergency meeting to examine the situation, the Security Council was forced to cut sort discussions after Western representatives walked out, in reaction to comments by the Libyan Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, who likened the situation in the Strip to the Nazi death camps. “This type of language does not help the peace process”, English official Karen Pierce commented to the BBC.
For his part, UN secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, defined the Israeli decision to halt all fuel supplies to the area as “punitive and unacceptable”, even if the Jewish state has said it is willing to guarantee a limited supply.
