Gazans burn plastics to produce much-needed energy amid severe fuel shortage

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.

"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," Musleh said.

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.

"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," said Ahmed Al-Kahlout, a member of the Palestinian Civil Defense.

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.

"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," said Hisham Muhanna, spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza.

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.

Gazans burn plastics to produce much-needed energy amid severe fuel shortage

Authorities in east China's coastal provinces Zhejiang and Jiangsu have launched emergency evacuation of residents to help mitigate the impact of Typhoon Bebinca -- the 13th typhoon of the year.

In Zhejiang's Pinghu City, communities have started the relocation work. The old town area of Xindai, home to about 1,400 permanent residents, including some 30 percent elderly, has been a focus of evacuation efforts.

Over 50 elderly residents have been evacuated to a temporary courtyard shelter, where they have plenty of space for meals and walking around. The shelter is equipped with folding beds, food, drinking water and medical staff standing by to address any health concerns.

The province also raised its emergency response for typhoon prevention to level II.

In Jiangsu Province, Nantong City has conducted comprehensive safety inspections and organized evacuations in key areas.

Nantong's Rugao Port on the Yangtze River was shutdown on Sunday afternoon.

All workers at the Zhangjiagang-Jingjiang-Rugao Bridge construction site -- located at a river shoal -- are evacuated ahead of the storm attack.

"From the temporary ferry to the Rugao-Zhangjiagang ferry, we have evacuated a total of 428 people. So far, all construction personnel of the Zhangjinggao Bridge within the scope of this construction site have been evacuated to our shelter," said Ding Xiaoxing, chief engineer of Rugao Water Affairs Department.

Authorities in Nantong has evacuated more than 1,400 people and over 200 vessels along the coastal area under its jurisdiction.

Making landfall in Shanghai on Monday morning, Typhoon Bebinca is the most powerful tropical cyclone directly hitting the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades.

Zhejiang, Jiangsu evacuate residents as Typhoon Bebinca lands in east China