The United Nations warned today (Monday) that all bakeries operating in the Gaza Strip are threatened with a complete halt within a few days, as Israel continues an unprecedented military attack for 24 days.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency, that only one of the bakeries contracted by the World Food Program and eight additional bakeries in the central and southern Gaza Strip are operating and supplying shelters with bread.

The statement stated that fuel shortages constitute the main obstacle preventing these bakeries from meeting local demand, and unless fuel is allocated to them, most bakeries will close their doors during the next few days.

It pointed out that Israel's attacks destroyed ten bakeries, six of which were in Gaza City, two in northern Jabalia, and two in the central region of the Gaza Strip, making residents struggle to obtain bread.

It was reported that there were long queues ranging from 4 to 6 hours waiting in front of bakeries, as residents were exposed to air strikes, according to the UN statement, which stated that the World Food Program estimates that the current stock of basic food commodities in Gaza is sufficient for about eight days.

However, at the store level, available stock is expected to last for five days.

Retailers face major challenges when restocking from wholesalers due to widespread destruction and insecurity.

Of the 117 trucks that entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt since the 21st of this month, at least 57 trucks carried food supplies and three food items, including ready-to-eat foods such as canned tuna, canned meat, and other non-perishable items.

All food supplies are distributed in shelters run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Since the 11th of this month, Gaza has been suffering from a complete power outage, following Israel's suspension of electricity and fuel supplies to Gaza, which in turn led to the closure of the only power plant in Gaza.

This has forced the basic service infrastructure to rely on backup generators, which are limited due to the scarcity of fuel in the Strip and the goods entering Gaza have not yet included fuel.
Meanwhile, the UN statement said Gaza's hospitals are facing an unprecedented level of devastation, primarily due to the massive number of infections, severe shortages of vital resources and fears of being targeted by airstrikes.

During the past 24 hours, on two separate occasions, the vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital in northern Gaza was bombed. This affects employees, patients, and 14,000 displaced people.

In the same period, residential buildings near the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City were reportedly bombed as a result of air strikes.

Since the start of Israel's attacks, more than a third of hospitals in Gaza (12 out of 35) and nearly two-thirds of primary health care clinics (46 out of 72) have closed due to damage or fuel shortages, increasing pressure on the health sector.

Israel's ongoing attacks have also displaced most of Gaza's medical workers, forcing hospitals to operate at less than a third of their normal staff levels, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Hospitals are still suffering from severe fuel shortages, which has led to strict rationing and the limited use of generators for essential functions only.

Furthermore, maintenance and repair of standby generators, which were not originally intended for continuous operation, have become increasingly difficult due to the scarcity of spare parts.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the total number of Palestinian deaths has risen to 8,306 since the start of Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip on the 7th of this month.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said during a press conference at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza that among the total dead were 3,457 children and 2,136 women, in addition to 21,048 wounded.

Al-Qudra stated that Israel's continuing attacks on the Gaza Strip put 25 hospitals out of service, while 25 ambulances were targeted, calling on Gazans to go to hospitals to donate blood due to the lack of sufficient quantities of it to save the injured.