Gaza hospital forced to suspend most services because of lack of fuel A major hospital in the Gaza Strip said on Friday it had suspended several services because of critical fuel shortages, AFP reported. Ahmed Mehanna, a senior official involved in managing Al-Awda hospital said that most services have been temporarily stopped due to a shortage of the fuel needed for the generators. "Only essential departments remain operational: the emergency unit, maternity ward and paediatrics," he said. He added the hospital has been forced to rent a small generator to keep even those three departments running. Under normal conditions, Al-Awda Hospital consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of diesel per day. At present, however, it has only 800 litres available. "We stress that this shutdown is temporary and linked to the availability of fuel," Mehanna said, warning that a prolonged fuel shortage "would pose a direct threat to the hospital's ability to deliver basic services". The Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza's Nuseirat district cares for around 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day. Khitam Ayada, 30, who has taken refuge in Nuseirat, said she had gone to the facility after days of kidney pain. But "they told me they didn't have electricity to perform an X-ray... and that they couldn't treat me," the displaced woman told AFP. "We lack everything in our lives, even the most basic medical services," she added. Hospital official Mehanna urged local and international organisations to intervene swiftly to ensure a steady fuel supply. Despite a ceasefire being in place since October 10, the Gaza Strip remains engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis because Israel is not allowing the volume of aid agreed to in the ceasefire (600 trucks per day) to come into the territory. Only 100 to 300 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance can currently enter, according to the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.