ISLAMABAD: Some 680,000 children in Gaza are living in displacement sites overrun by rats, mice, and insects, with families reporting they are too afraid to let their children sleep at night for fear of being bitten; an incident that has already occurred this year, according to Save the Children.
According to the organization, an analysis of United Nations data shows that figure places roughly two in three of all children in Gaza inside the more than 1,600 displacement sites where rodents or pests have been openly sighted,
Children, particularly infants under five and those weakened by malnutrition, are most vulnerable to the diseases spreading through these camps, according to the foundation. Skin infections and rashes have been reported in nearly two-thirds of assessed sites, lice in over 65% of sites, and bedbugs in more than half of sites, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Rodents are chewing through tents and contaminating food supplies, with few safe storage options available. Cases are expected to worsen as temperatures continue to rise.
Waste buildup across rubble-strewn sites has driven the spread of scabies, pneumonia and diarrhea, “illnesses that hit young and malnourished children hardest,” the organization said.
Gaza's healthcare, water and sanitation systems have been decimated by more than two years of war, turning overcrowded camps into breeding grounds for disease.
An Israeli military blockade on aid and commercial goods has left families without access to pesticides, the non-profit reported. When such items do appear in local markets, the prices are unaffordable for most. Families have been reduced to attempting to catch rats with sticks and basic adhesive traps.
Shurouq, a multimedia manager for Save the Children in Gaza, described raw sewage running through streets in the rain and being pumped into the sea.
"I struggle to find water and people have no choice but to fish and swim in the sea so they are putting themselves at risk," she said.
Save the Children called on Israel to lift the siege immediately, open all border crossings and restore aid flows.
“Israel, as the occupying power, bears a legal obligation to ensure the humanitarian needs of the occupied population are met,” it said, adding that the current ceasefire plan had failed on its humanitarian provisions.
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