Aid crisis Agencies say they have less than a day of fuel

Aid agencies in Gaza have less than a day's fuel for trucks and tankers that deliver vital food, medicine, water and diesel to millions across the territory, threatening an almost complete shutdown of operations including hospitals and bakeries, humanitarian officials have warned.

- Jason Burke, Malak A Tantesh

All main entry points to the south of Gaza are closed and there has been widespread looting of existing stocks in Rafah since aid agencies were forced to leave warehouses unguarded after warnings to evacuate the area from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before the military offensive launched into the city yesterday.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza sub-office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said: "We are down to less fuel than in a single service station. It's enough to last a day, basically. 

After that, nothing will be moving, and the hospitals won't be able to keep going for more than two or three days." Israeli tanks and special forces took control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing with Egypt in Rafah at dawn yesterday after a second night of intense airstrikes targeting eastern neighbourhoods of the city.

A spokesperson for the Israeli government said the long-threatened effort to destroy four battalions of Hamas fighters said to be based in Rafah had begun, as exhausted residents described confusion and terror.