UN stops delivery of food and supplies to Gaza as communications blackout hinders aid coordination
United Nations was forced to stop deliveries of food and other necessities to Gaza on Friday and warned of the growing possibility of widespread starvation after internet and telephone services collapsed in the besieged enclave because of a lack of fuel.
Israel announced that it will allow for the first time two tanker trucks of fuel daily into Gaza for the U.N. and communications systems.
The amount is about half of what the U.N. said it needs to conduct lifesaving functions for hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, including fueling water systems, hospitals, bakeries and its trucks delivering aid.
Israel has barred entry of fuel since the start of the war, saying it would be diverted by Hamas for military means.
It has also blocked food, water and other supplies except for a trickle of aid from Egypt that aid workers say falls far short of what's needed.
The communications blackout, now in its second day, largely cuts off Gaza's 2.3 million people from one another and the outside world.
The U.N.
agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, couldn't bring in its aid convoy Friday because of the communications cut-off and won't be able to as long it continues, said spokesperson Juliette Touma.
«An extended blackout means an extended suspension of our humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip,» Touma told The Associated Press.
Israeli forces have signaled they could expand their offensive toward Gaza's south even while continuing operations in the north.
Troops have been searching the territory's biggest hospital for traces of a Hamas command center the military alleges was located under the building.
The war, now in its sixth week, was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, in which the
