JERUSALEM, January 5, 2009 (WAFA)- The Israeli military ground offensive on the Gaza Strip compounds the humanitarian crisis, following more than a week of shelling and an 18-month long blockade of the Strip, a report issued by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

All of Gaza City hospitals, the report explained, are overloaded, and security situation is preventing medical staff from reaching hospitals. They have also been without mains electricity for 48 consecutive hours, depending entirely on back-up generators. The hospitals warn that the generators are close to collapse.

The report added that there is an almost total blackout in most of the governorates of Gaza, and that most of the telephone network, both land lines and cell phones, is also not functioning since it now depends on back-up generators with dwindling fuel stocks.

The report noted that UNRWA food distribution was cancelled due to Israeli military activity, except in southern Gaza where the situation is calmer.

Industrial fuel, the report continued on, is needed to power the Gaza Power Plant, which has been shut down since 30 December. Replacement of ten transformers which were completely damaged is also urgently needed to restore electricity supply to 250,000 people in central and northern Gaza.

The report stressed that it is essential to provide flour for local bakeries and humanitarian food distribution to the population of Gaza.

In addition, cash has still not entered the Gaza Strip and is urgently needed, including for the UNRWA cash distribution program to some 94,000 dependent beneficiaries, as well as its “cash for work” program.

Finally, the report affirmed the importance of enabling patients and ambulances to reach hospitals.