Displaced Palestinians in Gaza face dire shortages of water, food and sanitation
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Dalia Khraiwat stirred the fried eggplants in a pan over an open fire outside her tent, hoping to stretch the meal to feed her eight children. It was Friday, and she wished for meat or chicken, but there was nothing. "People want to eat chicken or meat, but there is nothing," she said, echoing the despair of many in the sprawling tent camps that now dot central Gaza.
Across the strip, displaced families are confronting a daily battle for the most basic necessities, with water available only occasionally and hygiene a distant luxury. The situation, aid workers and residents say, is pushing an already vulnerable population to the brink.
A struggle for water
Nasser Ghabin, who was displaced from Deir al-Balah, said the lack of water was his family's biggest daily worry. "Nothing has improved," he said. "We are done with this suffering. I do not have a water tank of 250 liters to preserve the water. I have only a small amount for seven people. As you can see, we get water only once a day."
Adeeb al-Nimir, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya in the north, walked barefoot toward a water truck, carrying dented jerrycans to fill for his family of 15, all living in a single tent. "We are sick of living in tents," he said.
The toilet crisis
In Deir al-Balah, Eman Mahmoud Shamia, 33, described a humiliating fixture of her family's new life: a communal latrine built with the help of a worker who dug soakaway pits. The "municipal toilet," as she called it, serves the entire camp and reminds her of a bygone era.
"I am deprived of my basic right to have a proper toilet seat in my tent," she said. Shamia's husband, Yahya, 50, suffers from advanced lung cancer and cannot use the makeshift facility. "This is exhausting for me as a woman and a mother of five children and my husband is sick and unable to use the makeshift toilet. What is happening to us is madness."
The scarcity of sanitation supplies has driven prices to extraordinary levels, making basic dignity a luxury few can afford.
A supply shock worsens the crisis
Economist Omar Salouha attributes the inflated prices to a "severe supply shock," as restrictions on imports have strangled the availability of essential goods. A used toilet seat now costs between 1,500 and 2,000 shekels ($503–$671), according to Al Jazeera. Mohammad Al-Hanouti, 30, from Al-Bureij camp, said he is saving to buy one but believes the basic necessities will cost him around $2,000.
Hossam Al-Huwaity, a spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce, said import requests for sanitation supplies remain stuck due to the Israeli blockade, which has severely limited the flow of goods into the strip.
Health and dignity at risk
The lack of sanitation is taking a heavy toll on public health. An OCHA WASH assessment found that only about half of the people surveyed had access to basic sanitation, and around 60% were exposed to wastewater or human waste within 10 metres of where they lived. Dr. Ahmed Al-Jedi reported that large numbers of children, women, and older people are arriving at emergency departments with diarrhoea, skin diseases, and gastrointestinal problems. Some families, he said, may only bathe once a week.
Over nine in ten Palestinians in Gaza are now displaced, and more than 90% of homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to Al Jazeera. In the absence of functioning sewage networks, some camps only see water delivered once a week, forcing families to queue for hours and prioritize. For women like Shamia, the loss of privacy and dignity compounds the trauma of losing home and livelihood. "I cannot believe this is our situation," she said. "Sometimes I feel like I am going crazy. How did the toilet become like this and how did the door become just a piece of cloth?"