Palestinians in Gaza face life-threatening skin and respiratory diseases as rubbish piles up

Displaced Palestinians in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, are suffering from extremely dire health conditions due to piles of domestic waste and rubbish, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

Um Yasser Dawoud, who lives in one of the tents there, is an asthma patient. Her health has worsened due to the stench of waste and sewage that blows in with every gust of air. “This place has become a source of diseases,” she explained. “Stray dogs gather at night and bark loudly, terrifying the children. Mosquitoes and flies never leave our tents.”

What makes matters worse is the disposal of animal carcasses in the same rubbish dumps, due to the difficulty of burying them amid the harsh conditions in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing Israeli bombardment across all areas. “This increases the foul odours and spreads diseases because of the worms coming out of them and the insects infesting the area,” added Um Yasser.

Mohammed Abu Dan is a resident of Al-Saha district in central Gaza City. He pointed out that the random waste dumps have caused his four-month-old daughter to develop skin problems due to constant mosquito and fly bites. “My daughter’s body is covered in tiny blisters, and her skin is irritated because of the insects that never leave my house. I tried using primitive methods [to remove the pests] since there are no pesticides or fumigation tools, but all attempts failed.”

During a medical check-up, the doctor asked Abu Dan about the conditions in the place where he lives. He explained that he lives in a partially destroyed ground-floor apartment, just a few metres away from a waste dump created recently by residents, due to the inability of Gaza Municipality to transport the waste to its main, safer dumps.

According to Sam Rose, Director of Planning at the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), people are living around “a volcano of grey and brown waste sediments” because they have no other choice. “People are literally living amid waste. Mass displacement has burdened everyone.”

UNRWA confirmed earlier that the accumulation of waste in the Gaza Strip poses a threat to people’s health and lives. In a post on social media on 28 March, the agency said that many people are forced to live in tents erected amid piles of garbage. It emphasised that the worsening waste crisis increases environmental and health challenges, and that Palestinians’ struggle to survive under severe humanitarian conditions has become increasingly difficult.

The Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities has also warned of the continued humanitarian catastrophe affecting the residents of the Strip due to the occupation state’s genocidal war. It confirmed that municipalities are unable to respond effectively because of a lack of equipment and essential resources amid massive destruction to infrastructure, and to the service, environmental and health sectors.

In a recent statement, the union called for urgent action to provide municipalities with their basic needs so that they can fulfil their role in serving the public and alleviating the growing suffering. It also stressed the need to supply the necessary machinery and heavy equipment to handle approximately 55 million tons of rubble scattered across all governorates of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza Municipality warned of an unprecedented health and environmental disaster threatening the lives of the city’s residents due to the accumulation of waste, sewage leaks and the decomposition of victims’ bodies under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israeli bombs.

Municipal spokesperson Hosni Mehanna said that the city is suffering from the accumulation of more than 175,000 tons of solid waste in its streets because the occupation forces are preventing municipal teams from accessing the main Juhor Ad-Dik waste dump, to the east of the city.

“The municipality’s efforts to overcome the crisis in cooperation with international organisations are facing major obstacles due to Israel’s refusal to allow in new equipment or permit teams to access the main dump site,” Mehanna told Anadolu Agency. He warned of the spread of diseases and epidemics “due to the accumulation of waste in Gaza’s streets and sewage leakage caused by the extensive destruction of infrastructure, not to mention the decomposition of bodies under the rubble.”

He stressed that these combined factors have created an environment conducive to the spread of insects and rodents in the city, especially with a shortage of materials needed to eliminate them.

The UN Development Programme issued a similar warning, saying that the issue of solid waste management in Gaza has become an emergency, requiring immediate support and solutions. The UNDP noted that the waste crisis reflects the broader humanitarian crisis facing the Gaza Strip even before the war started in October 2023, when it had outlined a comprehensive roadmap for sustainable waste management in Gaza, focusing on transitioning to a circular economy model. However, since the outbreak of the war, priorities have shifted towards urgent humanitarian aid.

According to the UN body, the number of solid waste collection vehicles in Gaza fell from 112 to 73 between 2017 and 2022. Most of these vehicles are old and inadequate, with each collection vehicle now serving 21,000 people, and each sanitation worker serving 3,343 people.

Environmental expert Dr Nizar Al-Wahidi estimates that each person in Gaza produces about half a kilogram of solid waste per day, meaning that the Strip requires the disposal of around 1.2 million kilograms of waste daily.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Wahidi warned of the spread of random dumps among tents and homes, which threatens to cause severe skin and respiratory diseases. These areas are becoming breeding grounds for rats, large rodents, snakes and disease-carrying insects. On top of that, the rotting waste emits foul odours and releases harmful, flammable gases.

“Fifty million cubic meters of sewage per day cannot reach treatment plants because the [Israeli occupation state] has destroyed the infrastructure,” he pointed out. “This has caused sewage floods in the streets, turning them into health hazards and dangerous swamps.” He also mentioned that Israel recently cut the only power line feeding the water treatment plant in Deir Al-Balah in the middle area of the Gaza Strip.

The environmental expert expressed deep concern that this waste has become a mixture of organic waste, metals, dust and debris from destroyed homes. “This means it may contain toxic and hazardous chemical substances, especially if the leachate from the waste seeps into the groundwater reservoir.”

Al-Wahidi stressed the urgent need to bury the waste safely and in accordance with internationally-approved methods in the Gaza Strip. “Drinking water, which is the pillar of life for the people of the Gaza Strip and is now consumed without being treated beforehand, will become a deadly poison if this happens.”

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