The fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip has reached a new crisis level, as Israeli Authorities have begun implementing the policy of reducing fuel to the Gaza Strip, despite numerous attempts to lobby against such an action.

On Sunday 2nd December, fuel reduction began which will slowly send Gaza into darkness and dramatically affect hospitals and other vital services.

Protests from Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations has lead to them filing an injunction with the Israeli High Court due to the harmful impact this policy will have for the 1.4 million people residing in the Gaza Strip.

“Long term development projects, such as agricultural, health, education and micro-enterprise projects are still functioning, however, the difficulties in access and movement of goods and people, contribute to a deteriorating humanitarian situation,” said Allyn Dhynes, Advocacy, Communications and Peacebuilding Manager for World Vision â€' Jerusalem, WestBank, Gaza.

A group of 29 humanitarian organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territories, including World Vision â€' Jerusalem, WestBank, Gaza, signed a statement earlier last week warning that the isolation of Gaza “could generate further economic collapse and the subsequent dependency of most of its people,” the Association of International Development Agencies statement said. International organizations working in Gaza raised concerns that the amount of humanitarian goods being allowed through are minimal and not enough to sustain quality levels of life.

Owners of gas stations refused to receive the reduced amounts in protest at the action, stating that they are insufficient to cover even a fraction of the Gaza Strip’s needs, according to a local Palestinian paper published on Monday 3rd December. Long car queues were seen across gas stations in Gaza in a final attempt to fill up with gasoline and diesel fuel last week before the cuts began to take effect. On Sunday, the day the cuts began, gas stations hung signs that they were no longer in service, having already run out of supplies.