The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced today (Thursday) that dozens of water sources in the central and southern Gaza Strip have stopped due to fuel exhaustion.

The Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Thomas White, stated on the (X) platform that in the three southern governorates in the Strip, 76 water wells and two main drinking water stations stopped, and 15 sewage pumping stations stopped due to running out of fuel.

White stated that the lack of fuel leads to a drinking water shortage crisis, which threatens a 40% increase in cases of diarrhea and infectious diseases among the displaced in UNRWA shelter centers.

He warned that poor sanitation and limited health services, in addition to the lack of clean water, will increase the risk of the spread of diseases and epidemics, pointing to the flow of sewage in the streets of the city of Rafah due to the exhaustion of fuel from all sewage pumps.

This comes as UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced that the death toll among its employees had risen to 103 since the start of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.

Israel imposes a comprehensive siege on the Gaza Strip, preventing all supplies of electricity, fuel, water and basic materials to the residents of Gaza after the Hamas movement launched an unprecedented surprise attack against Israel on October 7, which claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis, to which the Israeli army responded by launching an operation. Military and declared a state of war for the first time in 50 years against the movement in Gaza.

More than 11,600 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including 4,710 children, in addition to nearly 30,000 wounded, more than 70% of whom are women and children, according to the government media office in Gaza.