Gaza’s sole power station runs out of fuel as water supply also threatened

Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel, plunging swathes of the enclave into darkness and threatening its water supply.

It comes as UN officials have said the crowded Strip is effectively “sealed” and no aid was being allowed in – while food and medical supplies are worryingly low.

Israel is pounding the tiny besieged enclave with the heaviest strikes ever recorded, according to Israeli military officials, who told The Independent they had launched an “unprecedented response to an unprecedented attack” from the Hamas militant group.

The militants, who breached the border fence on Saturday in dozens of locations, stormed villages, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of hostages. In response, the Israeli defence minister announced a “total siege” on the tiny enclave, vowing to sever water, electricity, food and fuel supplies.

On Wednesday, Gaza’s energy ministry said a consequence of this was that Gaza's only power plant had run out of fuel. That leaves only generators to power the territory, which are running out of fuel as it is in short supply.

The UN’s health agency also said that supplies it had earmarked for seven hospitals have already run out.

“It is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding,” Tamara Al-Rifai, spokesperson for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, said. She added that there was an “unprecedented displacement” of civilians desperately seeking shelter in UN schools that were well over capacity. Some 250,000 people have fled their homes in Gaza – more than a tenth of the population. Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed

“Our personnel have already lost their lives in the last few days, 18 of our buildings have sustained damage including our headquarters where my colleagues are hiding in a bunker, ” Ms Rifae added. The number of workers for the agency how had been killed reached 11 by Monday night.

She said the UN had two key calls, that “our buildings, institutions, schools and our headquarters remain protected” and that “we are able to bring food, humanitarian supplies and UN personnel in and out of Gaza”.

Palestinian civilians in Gaza told The Independent that they were running out of water and food and had “nowhere to hide”. Medics in Gaza meanwhile said the largest hospital was “at capacity” and amid chronic shortages of medical supplies, including anaesthetic medicines, and now power, doctors were having to improvise.

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said on Wednesday that crucial life-saving supplies must be allowed into Gaza. "We need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now," he told reporters. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric later said: "Civilians need to be protected. We do not want to see a mass exodus of Gazans."

The loss of the power plant – and blackouts – will have far-reaching consequences, impacting the clean water supply and sanitation, according to Israeli rights groups Gisha.

“It effectively means a total blackout in Gaza. That will impact the functioning of hospitals, getting water to people’s home and sanitation,” the group’s Miri Marmur said.

“Sewage disposable is unable to take place, we hear a number of desalination plants are not able to work.

On top of this Israel has cut its supply of water to Gaza which is purchased by the Palestinian Authority and accounts for a third of its clean water supply.

The decision she added showed a “deep and total disregard for the civilian population”.