Flies, mosquitoes, raw sewage and mountains of garbage threaten to worsen Gaza’s health crisis

Raw sewage, swarms of flies and mosquitoes, garbage piled high in the streets. As the heat of summer gathers, hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are contending with a crisis in sanitation - as well as hunger and the frequent need to move from one place to another in the search for safety from air strikes and fighting.

Raw sewage, swarms of flies and mosquitoes, garbage piled high in the streets. As the heat of summer gathers, hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are contending with a crisis in sanitation. Ismail Zayda, who lives in Gaza City in the north, told CNN that water supplies had been cut off for nine months. “The municipalities are not working, and waste in large piles is on our doorsteps and on the roads,” he said. “We are seeing large quantities of flying insects for the first time… Frankly, we have insects that we see for the first time and we do not know their names, and they sting our bodies and the bodies of our children.” Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza – launched in the wake of the October 7 attacks – is now into its eighth month and has triggered a spiraling humanitarian crisis. Human rights groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over “unspeakable” living conditions for Palestinians, as Israel’s military campaign has pulverized neighborhoods, damaged health infrastructure and depleted food, water and fuel supplies.