Hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip have only three days of fuel left due to closed border crossings, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Despite international objections, Israel sent tanks into the overcrowded southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and seized the nearby crossing into Egypt that is the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said fuel that the UN health agency had expected to be allowed in on Wednesday had been blocked.
Israeli authorities control the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza," Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter.
"Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt."
Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told a press conference that fuel was critical to aid operations.
It is mainly used to power the generators which provide hospitals with the electricity they need to operate, but is also used so humanitarians can move around, and to keep bakeries running.
"Without fuel, all humanitarian operations, including hospital operations -- they come to a halt."
Talks aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal are still ongoing, and Israel and Hamas are close enough to an agreement that they should be able to close the gaps, the White House said on Wednesday.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One, as President Joe Biden flew to Wisconsin, that Biden has confidence in his team helping the negotiations.