Living Conditions of Forcibly Displaced Families in Gaza Are Increasingly Deteriorating

While the dimensions of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip are becoming more alarming with each passing day, the shelter and living conditions of forcibly displaced families continue to deteriorate rapidly. Thousands of civilians trying to sustain their lives in tent camps in the region are struggling to survive deprived of basic humanitarian needs. While access to clean water and food is extremely limited due to the complete collapse of the infrastructure, the tents being full of waste and filth pushes the risk of epidemic diseases to its peak. Vulnerable groups, especially children and the elderly, constitute the most affected segment by these severe conditions. International human rights organizations are warning that this grim picture in the region must be addressed urgently.

One of the biggest health threats in the camps is rats and other pests, whose numbers are rapidly increasing due to the unfavorable environments formed by the accumulation of filth and waste. The inability to collect and dispose of garbage regularly has led these rodents to completely take over the camp areas. Families are subjected to the attacks of these pests day and night, and this situation creates a great trauma both physically and psychologically. Various pathogens carried by pests and rodents pose a deadly danger for the camp residents, whose immune systems are already weakened. This brutal reality increases the risk of civilians losing their lives due to infections caused by a lack of hygiene, rather than a bomb or conflict.

One of the main reasons for this destruction experienced is the complete failure of sewage systems in the region. The overflow of wastewater everywhere creates swamps and pools of filth around the tent cities, paving the way for a serious public health crisis. The mixing of sewage water into drinking water sources or living spaces causes waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid to spread rapidly. The lack of hygienic toilets and bathing areas leads to people being unable to meet even their most basic cleaning needs, acting as a factor that accelerates the spread of diseases. Health workers in the region state that humanitarian interventions will remain insufficient unless this pollution and waste accumulation are eliminated.

The lack of hygiene and sanitation causes diseases to literally establish colonies in the refugee camps in Gaza. The lack of medical supplies, medicines, and cleaning products leads to even the smallest infection being untreated and reaching fatal proportions. Families staying in the camps lack the means to dispose of the domestic waste and garbage accumulating inside their tents, forcing them to live with their own waste. In this unfavorable environment, ailments such as respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, and skin diseases are spreading to epidemic proportions. Since the health system has collapsed, vaccinations or isolation methods to prevent these diseases cannot be implemented.

The international community and various human rights organizations are calling for urgent action to immediately end this tragic situation in the region. Establishing mobile health units, water purification facilities, and waste management systems, even if temporarily, is of vital importance to bring the conditions in the camps to a level worthy of human dignity. However, the continuation of conflicts and the blockade in the region makes it almost impossible to deliver this humanitarian aid regularly. Refugees in Gaza are struggling greatly with a hygiene and shelter crisis, along with the destruction of war. The solution to this humanitarian catastrophe seems to depend on urgent and permanent peace decisions to be taken in the international arena.