The unrest gripping Egypt threatens humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine, with Egyptian authorities moving quickly to toughen the siege of Gaza as the densely populated area spirals into fuel and water crises.

The Egyptian military shut down the Rafah border crossing and tunnels connecting Egypt to Gaza on July 5, stranding thousands at the border and choking off one of the few openings that the 1.7 million people living in Gaza have with the rest of the world.

The closure “led to shut tunnels that are described as the only main lifeline to provide Gaza with fuel supplies, commodities, and goods that alleviate impacts of the Israeli siege,” Euro-mid Observer warns.

Gaza border authority officials say that the numbers of people stranded will climb to tens of thousands in just a few days, Al Monitor reports. Numbered among them are workers, students, patients seeking medical care, and people making the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Rafah closure has cut off the supply of Egyptian fuel, which provides approximately half of the fuel needed to keep Gaza’s hospitals and schools open and generator-fueled electricity running, Euro-mid Observer reports. This means that only Israeli gas is available to many, at a price that is prohibitively expensive in an area beset with high unemployment and poverty.

Al Monitor reports on long lines at gas station as panic climbs: