![A pregnant Palestinian woman displaced from northern Gaza sits in a warehouse where she is taking shelter in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 29, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. [AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2054043519.jpg)
The UN warned Monday that the Gaza Strip faces a growing maternal health crisis alongside critical shortages of fuel and medical supplies as Israeli authorities continue to block humanitarian access, Anadolu reports. “The UN Population Fund says pregnant mothers are living on a fraction of the food they need to survive,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told a news conference, noting that “a growing number of mothers suffer from malnutrition – and one in three expectant mothers experiences a high-risk pregnancy at a time when half of essential maternal health medicines are no longer in stock.” On fuel stocks, Haq stressed that they have reached “critically low levels,” especially diesel in southern Gaza, essential for operating both water and medical equipment. […]
