(The Hill) — The sole power plant in Gaza officially ran out of fuel on Wednesday amid fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas and was shut down.
Israel cut off supplies — including food, water, fuel and medicine — to the area after Hamas, who controls the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack over the weekend. The access point into Egypt was also closed on Tuesday as a result of airstrikes.
Counterattacks from Israel have destroyed neighborhoods in Gaza — home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians. At least 2,200 have been killed on both sides, officials said.
“There is no safe place in Gaza right now,” journalist Hasan Jabar said after three Palestinian reporters were killed in the bombardment of a downtown neighborhood, per the Associated Press. “I am genuinely afraid for my life.”
As of Wednesday morning, the region is being powered by generators — but they also run on fuel, which is scarce in the territory. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said supplies it pre-positioned to hospitals are already out.
“[W]e consumed three weeks worth of emergency stock in three days, partly due to 50 patients coming in at once,” Matthias Kannes, WHO’s head of mission in Gaza said about one hospital Wednesday according to the AP.
Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation on the group.
“We will not allow a reality in which Israeli children are murdered,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said while meeting with soldiers close to the southern border. “I have removed every restriction — we will eliminate anyone who fights us, and use every measure at our disposal.”
As a result of the war, the Israeli military said more than 1,200 people — including 155 soldiers — have died in Israel since the initial attacks. In Gaza, the health ministry said more than 1,050 were killed and over 5,100 injured.
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency says 250,000 people have been displaced in Gaza.
The Associated Press contributed.
