GAZA, (PIC)
In the overcrowded displaced camps west of Gaza City, the harshness of reality is no longer measured only by the loss of homes or the scarcity of food and water, but has extended to an open health front, where shelters have turned into an ideal environment for the spread of insects and rodents and the outbreak of diseases.
The adjacent tents, the stagnant water between the narrow passages, and the accumulation of waste in the vicinity of the camps, are all factors that contributed to creating an environment unfit for life, and with the absence of effective control programs and the decline of health services, fears are expanding of an epidemiological explosion as the summer season approaches.
Nightly suffering that does not subside
Inside one of the shelter camps west of the city, the Sharaf al-Din family lives in a daily struggle with swarms of mosquitoes that attack the tents without stopping.
The father, Adel, describes the scene as “closer to hell”, explaining that the night is no longer a time for rest, but for long hours of resistance against endless bites.
The children of the family suffer from skin infections and continuous itching, while the mother confirms that the health situation is getting worse in light of the shortage of medicines and the difficulty of obtaining effective treatment.
She adds that some children have become unable to sleep due to constant pain, amidst a clear inability to provide any real means of prevention inside the camp.
Despite primitive attempts to repel insects using smoke, the family says that these solutions are no more than temporary measures that increase the suffering of the children instead of protecting them.
Rats invade the tents
In another camp west of the city, the family of Mahmoud Amin faces a reality no less dangerous, as rodents have become part of the daily scene inside the tents. The sounds of rats at night are no longer a surprise, but have become a familiar habit that raises concern more than it raises astonishment.
The family points out that the rats reach the food and even the sleeping places of the children, in the absence of any effective measures to combat them.
With the increase in cases of diarrhea and stomach pain among children, doctors suspect a link to food contamination resulting from the spread of rodents in the vicinity of the camp.
The family says it resorts to primitive means to protect the food, but they remain limited solutions in an environment that lacks the most basic elements of hygiene and safety.
Medical warnings of the worsening crisis
From inside a medical clinic operating in difficult conditions west of the city, Dr. Izz al-Din al-Zaqzouq warns of an alarming escalation in cases related to the unhealthy environment inside the camps.
He confirms that medical teams are recording a rise in skin diseases resulting from mosquito bites, in addition to bacterial infections and intestinal diseases linked to food contamination and the spread of rodents.
He points out that the health system suffers from a severe shortage of medicines and capabilities, which limits the ability to respond, at a time when public health programs and insect control have declined to their minimum level.
With summer approaching, doctors expect the situation to worsen further as a result of the accelerated reproduction of mosquitoes and rodents, which threatens to increase pressure on the already exhausted health facilities.
A silent catastrophe expanding
Between crowded tents and an environment unfit for living, human suffering overlaps with health danger in one scene. Despite repeated medical warnings, the response remains limited in the face of a reality that is becoming more complex day by day, making the camps threatened with turning from temporary displacement places into open hotspots for epidemics.
