Gaza - September 04, 2024

Storyline:
A severe fuel shortage in the besieged Gaza Strip has forced local Palestinians to burn plastics to produce fuel, which is urgently needed to carry out humanitarian aid.

Through a complex process, Mahmoud Musleh from northern Gaza extracts and distills fuel from the residue of plastic waste that is burned at high temperatures.

Workers in Musleh's team collect plastic waste that floods the streets of northern Gaza and then burn it in makeshift furnaces to turn it into fuel, despite the great health risks associated with the practice.

Amid ongoing Israeli attacks, the Palestinian Civil Defense is the most in need of fuel in Gaza to reach bombed areas and carry out civilian rescue operations.

The severe fuel shortage crisis is also threatening the urgent work of hospitals in Gaza, and has caused the closure of a large number of bakeries and desalination plants, leaving food and water even more scarce.

The United Nations has confirmed that basic humanitarian operations in Gaza require 400,000 liters of fuel daily to operate, and the severe fuel shortage threatens the operation of vital services throughout Gaza.

The nearly 11 months of Israeli assaults have resulted in 40,878 Palestinian deaths and 94,454 injuries in the enclave, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Thursday.

Shotlist:
Gaza Strip - Sept 4, 2024:
1. Various of locals burning plastics to produce fuel;
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Musleh, workshop owner (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"The danger rate in our line of work is 100 percent, either by being burned or from diseases. It's very hot, and most of the workers have suffered from severe blisters due to the heat. But we want to reduce the severity of the fuel shortage and help our homeland so that it can move forward. Today, if you want to go somewhere, you have to walk at least half of the way due to the lack of diesel and other types of fuel."
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
3. Equipment of fuel producing workshop;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
4. Various of civil defense vehicles, signs;
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Al-Kahlout, civil defense member:
"In light of the diesel shortage and the lack of fuel to operate civil defense vehicles and machines, we were forced to use alternative fuel manufactured locally by citizens to keep the civil defense vehicles in service."
6. Various of medical devices in ward;
7. Various of abandoned medical devices;
8. Building, flag of International Committee of Red Cross in Gaza;
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hisham Muhanna, spokesman, International Committee of Red Cross in Gaza:
"All items, all materials classified as humanitarian aid are urgently needed in the Gaza Strip. That includes fuel upon which hospitals, ambulances, civil defense crews are fully reliant on in their life-saving missions. Fuel can be an ingredient in life-saving missions and it's urgently needed across all of the Gaza Strip in the north and in the south."
10. Various of destroyed gas station facilities.

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