UN complains Rafah Crossing closed, says Gaza has only 1 day of fuel, no patients going through

The United Nations has had its access to the closed Rafah Crossing into southern Gaza denied by the Israeli authorities, a spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said Tuesday.

“We currently do not have any physical presence at the Rafah crossing as our access… has been denied by COGAT,” Jens Laerke told a press conference in Geneva, referring to the Israeli agency that oversees supplies into the Palestinian territories.

“We have been told there will be no crossings of personnel or goods in or out for the time being. That has a massive impact on how much stock do we have,” he says. “There’s a very, very short buffer of one day of fuel available.”

“As fuel only comes in through Rafah, the one day buffer is for the entire operation in Gaza,” says Laerke. If no fuel comes in, “it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave.”,

“Currently, the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off,” he said, referring to the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel

The World Health Organization says that Israel is also currently not allowing patient transfers through Rafah.

Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza had completely halted at Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. A Hamas rocket attack from Rafah killed four Israeli soldiers at Kerem Shalom on Sunday. The rocket fire continued this morning.