The Electronic Intifada 1 August 2024
Dirty water in the streets of Deir al-Balah. (Abubaker Abed)
Ahmad al-Tahrawi has been working as a volunteer doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah since the current genocidal war began.
Gaza’s healthcare system has been under what he calls “unbearable” strain throughout the past 10 months.
“The situation gets worse every day,” he said.
“One consequence is that we treat the symptoms and not the causes of diseases. And if this war continues, soon we may not even be able to do that.”
Pools of sewage and heaps of garbage can be seen on Gaza’s streets. Skin diseases and hepatitis A have increased dramatically.
“There are many reasons behind the spread of skin diseases and viral infections,” al-Tahrawi said. “The top reasons are the lack of hygiene and cleaning materials.”
By blocking the entry of products used in cleaning, Israel has deliberately caused illnesses, he argued.
“Overcrowding also plays a major role in the health crisis,” he added. “Living in tents doesn’t help at all.”
Al-Tahrawi laments that doctors have to prescribe various types of medicine, knowing that they are unavailable.
“The situation has gone beyond disastrous,” he said. “The only solution is to end the war and reopen the crossings [for goods and people].”
Abdullah was uprooted from his home in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza, during the first few weeks of the war.
He is now living at the Palestine Technical College in Deir al-Balah. The college has been turned into one of the largest shelters for displaced people in Gaza.
Abdullah has a rash on his skin and could not find any creams that may soothe it.
He has to constantly wear the same clothes and does not have enough money for new items.
“I can barely afford some food for me and my family,” he said.
Abdullah finds it hard to rest in the summer heat. In the absence of air conditioning, he has made his own rudimentary fan.
“I get a piece of cardboard and wave it in front of my face,” he said. “That’s how I manage to go to sleep.”
Sewage pumps destroyed
Fadel has also been displaced from northern Gaza. He is now living in a Deir al-Balah school and has noticed that there are red spots on his skin.
“The overcrowding and bad sanitary conditions in shelters are lethal,” he said.
“When we see someone who has an infection, we try to isolate ourselves from them. But that is impossible to do.”
Fadel notes he is “taking shelter in a place where there are no means of life.”
He is in his early twenties and is unable to see his parents. They have remained in northern Gaza.
“I am absolutely depressed and traumatized by the war,” he said. “I have never felt so much pain and humiliation.”
The polio virus has recently been detected in samples of Gaza’s sewage.
Although no actual cases of polio have been confirmed yet, the World Health Organization has warned that it is just a matter of time before it reaches children who have not been vaccinated.
As 70 percent of sewage pumps have been destroyed and all wastewater plants are no longer working, the situation provides a “perfect breeding ground” for polio, according to the World Health Organization.
Vaccination rates have fallen because of the genocidal war. A sizable number of children are therefore unprotected against polio, a disease which can cause paralysis.
Firas is the father of two girls, aged 3 and 1.
He and his family are now living in a tent. It is located in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.
“I don’t know what to do to protect my children from polio,” he said. “This deadly disease could spread among our children anytime.”
Islam is the mother of three children, including a baby. They are sheltering in a Deir al-Balah school.
The water there is polluted and her family have no soap.
“We live in a place of illnesses,” she said. “It is easy for polio to spread among us.”
Maha has two children, aged 2 and 5.
Her husband has been taken into detention by the Israeli forces. She is living with her parents and other members of her extended family in northern Gaza.
“How can I protect my children from being infected with the polio virus?” she asked. “Everything around them is polluted.”
Abubaker Abed and Khuloud Rabah Sulaiman are journalists based in Gaza.
