Devastating Fuel Shortage in Gaza: 2,000 Innocent Children Pay the Ultimate Price
Aid agencies plead for ceasefire in Gaza amidst dire consequences of Israeli fuel blockade Hospitals face becoming mass graves while vulnerable babies and wounded patients are left to perish Over 2,000 children have already lost their lives Hostages have been set free
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In Gaza, a territory isolated from the rest of the world by a nearly complete blockade, Israeli airstrikes have caused widespread devastation, completely destroying entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools, and mosques. CNN's drone footage on Monday captured the extensive destruction throughout various parts of the strip, showcasing entire streets that have been flattened in the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, and a line of demolished buildings referred to as the al-Zahra towers in central Gaza.
According to Save the Children, more than 1 million children are currently trapped in Gaza, with no safe refuge available to them. The organization has raised concerns about the dire consequences of lacking essential medication and electricity to support crucial healthcare facilities in the enclave.
Bbuildings reduced to rubble and ruins by Israeli airstrikes are seen in Gaza on October 23, 2023.
Fuel is crucial for sustaining life in Gaza. It is essential for pumping and desalinating water, as well as operating generators that power vital medical equipment in hospitals. If there is a lack of fuel, hospitals cannot maintain incubators, ventilators, and dialysis machines, nor sterilize surgical equipment. Unfortunately, as a result of Israeli strikes and dwindling fuel supplies, twelve hospitals and 32 medical centers in Gaza are currently not operational. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza has already experienced a power outage due to the fuel shortage.
A medical worker assists a premature Palestinian baby who lies in an incubator at the maternity ward of Shifa Hospital, in Gaza on October 22, 2023.
Currently, we are not interested in providing additional fuel to the Hamas military machine. We have only authorized the provision of medicine, water, and foodstuffs. No other items have been authorized," stated Regev.
The government's decision is to prevent the delivery of fuel, as it is feared that Hamas will steal it and use it to power rockets that are aimed at killing innocent people in Israel.
Pictures of more than 1,000 individuals who were abducted, missing, or lost their lives during the Hamas attack are showcased on unoccupied seats within Tel Aviv University's Smolarz Auditorium, located in Tel Aviv, Israel. This poignant display took place on October 22.
Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 22.
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Civilians wounded in Israeli airstrikes near a UNRWA school in Khan Younis, Gaza, are being rescued from the debris of a demolished house on Saturday, October 21st.
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Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images.
Relatives of hostages speak to the media during the "Lighting up the Light" campaign for the return of those held captive, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21.
Children use candles for lighting in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday, October 20.
Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday noon prayers as Israeli police look on in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20.
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On October 19, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits soldiers in a field close to the border with Gaza. Gallant encourages the soldiers, emphasizing that though they currently observe Gaza from afar, they will soon experience it firsthand.
Friends and relatives gather at the funeral of Ofir Libstein, former head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, who tragically lost his life during the Kibbutz Kfar Aza attack. The solemn ceremony takes place in Even Yehuda, Israel, on Wednesday, October 18.
A woman mourns over a dead man at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City on October 18.
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Photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas are seen in Tel Aviv on October 18.
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President Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Bodies of Palestinians killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital lie in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 17.
Israeli security forces inspect a damaged residential building after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in Sderot, Israel on October 17.
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Street vendors work on a darkened street without power in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16.
People hold Israeli flags as friends and family mourn Dor Reder at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, on October 16.
Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, October 16.
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Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian youth during his funeral in Nablus, West Bank, on October 15.
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People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14.
Eli Albag weeps while clutching a photograph of his daughter Liri, as he joins fellow protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 14. The demonstration seeks the immediate release of over 100 Israelis who were kidnapped in a recent Hamas assault.
An Israeli soldier looks inside a house that was overrun by Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel, on October 13.
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
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Dor Kedmi/AP
A Palestinian child is injured during bombing in Gaza on October 13.
Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday, October 12.
Israeli soldiers patrol near Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
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An Israeli soldier patrols near the Nova music festival grounds near Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
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A Palestinian woman covered in dust and dirt carries a child in Gaza City on October 12.
An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, October 11.
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People carry bodies of Palestinians killed during an Israeli airstrike prior to their burial in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
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At the entrance of a kindergarten in Be'eri, Israel, on October 11, evidence of bullet holes can be observed on a cracked window. This particular self-sustaining farming community, situated near Gaza, was among the initial targets chosen by Hamas militants on October 7.
On October 11, in Modiin Maccabim, Israel, Itzik and Miriam Shafir gather at a cemetery to mourn their son's passing. Dor Shafir and his girlfriend, Savion Kiper, tragically lost their lives during a music festival attacked by Hamas on Saturday.
A boy carries salvaged belongings from the wreckage of his family's home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
Israeli soldiers were seen transporting a body in Kfar Aza, a village in Israel located near the Gaza border. According to the Israel Defense Forces, Hamas militants were responsible for a brutal attack that occurred over the weekend, which they describe as a "massacre."
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Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10.
Stranded travelers wait to be booked on a flight at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on October 10.
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10.
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People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
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Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9.
The ruins of the Yassin mosque are seen in the Shati refugee camp just outside Gaza City on October 9.
Friends and relatives of Ilai Bar Sade mourn next to his grave during his funeral at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 9.
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Lightning strikes over Gaza City following an Israeli bombardment on October 9.
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Israeli security and emergency officials respond after a rocket landed in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Ilit, in the occupied West Bank, on October 9.
Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9.
Palestinians remove a body from the rubble of a building after an Israeli airstrike on the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
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The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son's funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 9.
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Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Erik Marmor/AP
Fire and smoke rise from Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 8.
Palestinians inspect a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 8.
An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona on October 8.
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Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Rockets launched from Gaza are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system on October 8.
A woman runs to her family's reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7.
From the window of his family's apartment, a man surveys damage from a rocket that struck a parking lot in Ashkelon on October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinians break into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, after gunmen infiltrated parts of southern Israel on October 7.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Children are seen in a damaged house in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
A man in Ashkelon runs after rockets were launched from Gaza on October 7.
Israelis donate blood in Jerusalem on October 7.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A woman stands in a room damaged by rockets in Ashkelon on October 7.
Smoke rises as the clashes between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces continue on the streets of Beit Hanun in Gaza on October 7.
People take cover in a bomb shelter in Rishon Lezion, Israel, as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
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Hospitals are on the verge of collapse, operating well beyond their capacity. The situation has become so desperate that surgeries are now being performed without anesthesia, and in certain instances, under the dim light of phone screens, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.
Approximately 50,000 pregnant women are facing challenges in obtaining necessary healthcare, resulting in around 166 risky births occurring each day. Moreover, over 5,000 women are scheduled to give birth within the next month, the ministry reported.
A baby receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza on October 23, 2023.
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A neonatal doctor from a hospital in southern Gaza stated on Monday to CNN that premature babies who depend on oxygen supplies will not survive unless fuel is promptly supplied to the enclave. Hatem Edhair, the head of Neonatal ICU at Nasser Medical Complex, revealed that all non-essential services, including lights and air conditioning, have been shut down.
According to the United Nations, the territory typically receives an average of 455 aid trucks daily. Based on CNN calculations, the weekend deliveries have left Gaza with a deficit of over 7,200 truckloads of aid between October 7 and October 22. This shortage amounts to half of 1% or one two-hundredth of the usual aid received.
In the Hamas attack on Nir Oz, approximately 25% of the residents either lost their lives or were held captive.
The recent release of Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan, who were American hostages, happened on Friday.
Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz were released by Hamas, say multiple sources.
Hostages and Missing Families Forum
This story is still developing and will be kept updated. CNN's Abeer Salman, Isa Soares, Amy Cassidy, Eyad Kourdi, Mihir Melwani, Sophie Jeong, Pierre Meilhan, Mitchell McCluskey, Alex Hardie, Tamar Michaelis, and Hadas Gold have contributed to the reporting.
