Thousands of people in Gaza, Palestine, are at heightened
risk of death and severe illness, as Israeli authorities
continue to restrict the entry of engine oil and spare parts
into the enclave, warns Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors
Without Borders (MSF). These supplies are needed to keep
hospital generators, ambulances, water pumps and water
trucks running. The impediment of these essential services
is emblematic of Israel’s systematic destruction of the
necessities for life in Gaza.
In some facilities, MSF
barely has enough engine oil to last a month, and some of
our equipment has already been affected by shortages. We are
forced to try and find stocks at the local market for
extortionate prices. The supply of engine oil is so limited
that the price has increased 20 times in the last six
months. By the end of July, it was more than US$1,300 per
litre. Neither the quality nor the availability is
guaranteed.
On 5 August, one of the generators at the
MSF field hospital in Deir Al Balah broke down. Forced to
rely on a smaller backup generator, teams had to drastically
ration electricity during this time. We were only able to
run the operating theatre for people in the most critical
condition; nurses could not sterilise essential equipment,
x-ray services stopped, and people with painful burns were
left to suffer in extreme heat without air
conditioning.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is not
a series of isolated shortages, it is a policy of attrition
by design,” says Filipe Ribeiro, MSF Head of Mission in
Palestine. “For more than two years, we have observed
Israel’s policies impairing the entry of supplies. These
policies do not merely delay aid; they dismantle the very
systems people rely on to survive.”
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“Today it is
engine oil and spare parts. Tomorrow it will be something
else,” says Ribeiro. “The items change, but the logic
remains the same: reduce people to conditions where life
becomes untenable, where dignity is systematically stripped
away through the denial of the most ordinary, most essential
goods. This is not bureaucracy. It is a deliberate effort to
make existence itself impossible.”
In Gaza, most
electricity has been cut by Israeli authorities and much of
the electrical infrastructure has been destroyed. Hospitals
and other essential services now rely almost entirely on
generators. Without engine oil and replacement parts, these
generators are increasingly breaking down.
If
generators stop working, there are no alternative power
sources such as solar systems or replacement equipment. New
generators or new vehicles have also been blocked by Israeli
authorities.
“When generators break down, hospitals
are at risk,” says Ola Bardawil, deputy project
coordinator. “Newborn babies in incubators, people who
rely on oxygen generators, or those in need of lifesaving
surgery will suffer.”
The withholding of engine oil
and spare parts is not isolated, but part of wider
restrictions imposed as part of Israel’s genocide, using
structural violence to intentionally limit access to vital
services and supplies. The entry of engine oil and spare
parts alone will not be enough to improve the lives of
people in Gaza. Israel must immediately lift its blockade
and allow the sustained, unhindered entry of all medical,
humanitarian and commercial supplies needed to respond to
people’s immense needs.
The consequences extend far
beyond hospitals. Currently, people’s access to drinking
water relies on trucks bringing water to the areas where
they are sheltering. A
survey carried out in July by organisations monitoring
water and sanitation found that 90 per cent of households
experience moderate to high water insecurity.
Without
engine oil, all transport is at risk of stopping, including
much needed water trucks at the height of the summer heat.
This also means ambulances, buses enabling medical staff to
come to work, and trucks collecting humanitarian supplies.
Bakeries and flour mills also run off generators, meaning
food production could be affected.
One of the
generators in MSF’s water desalination hub is already
damaged due to the lack of engine oil and spare parts to
replace what is broken. In June, we had to start reducing
its use from 12 to seven hours per day, resulting in a
decrease in drinking water production from 600,000 litres to
350,000 litres a day. This means over 40,000 fewer people
can receive water each day.
Israel’s restrictions have
become increasingly expansive, preventing the entry not only
of generators and vehicles but also routine items, from
ointments for skin diseases to rubber seals needed for
machines to clean medical equipment. The
shortages now extend across virtually every aspect of life
in Gaza, leaving hospitals and humanitarian organisations
without basic supplies.
About MSF:
MSF is an
international, medical, humanitarian organisation that
delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their
origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia
was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF
sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian
assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120
Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with
Médecins Sans Frontières working as: doctors, midwives,
psychologists, laboratory technicians, human
resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health
specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care
based on need alone and operates independently of
government, religion or economic influence and irrespective
of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au
