Gazans fleeing Rafah say they now live 'in misery' next to garbage dump in Khan Younis

In Khan Younis, where Gaza's Al-Aqsa University once stood, thousands of families say they're being forced to live next to what has become a putrid temporary garbage dump.

Stretching 250 metres, the pile of garbage is longer than Seattle's Space Needle is high. Flies, cockroaches and other bugs are inescapable, as is the unbearable foul smell. 

"The situation is indescribable," said Abdullah Tayseer, 48, who moved to Khan Younis with his wife and three children after fighting forced them from their temporary refuge in Rafah.

"All day long we live in misery."

UNRWA, the main United Nations agency in Gaza, estimated that as of Monday, more than 800,000 people had left Rafah since Israel began targeting the city in early May.

Israel said earlier this week it intended to broaden its operations in Rafah despite U.S. warnings about the risk of mass casualties. Many Gazans fled the southern city and made their way back to Khan Younis, about nine kilometres to the north, hoping to set up shelter at the Al-Aqsa University campus — only to find that it had been turned into one of the city's main garbage dumps.

Desperate, tired and faced with limited options, thousands set up camp near the dump, where garbage trucks coming from other camps within city boundaries regularly unload their contents.

The landfill used to be in Sofa, a town east of Khan Younis, but the city — which is responsible for waste collection — said it had to be moved to a more central area that would be easier to access as the war dragged on.

They chose the vacant university campus, where most of the buildings have been destroyed during the conflict.

Mohamed Al-Farra, an environmental engineer with the city, said the university was chosen because it was the largest space available at the time and "the furthest place from people." 

However, as people flooded back into Khan Younis, Al-Farra told CBC News that the dump "is now the centre of the displaced." 

He said the trash greatly affects the spread of disease and vermin. 

"The displaced tell us that they've seen roaches that they've never seen in their lives." 

Muhammad Abu Aser, 44, said he pitched his tent near the dump after he and his family were forced to leave Rafah because they couldn't find anywhere else to go.