The dire conditions in Gaza, marked by continued violence, rodent infestations and the spread of infectious diseases, are worsened by blockades that prevent essential medical supplies from entering the enclave.
‘I feel like I’m in prison’
Umm Ahmad lives with her family in a camp in the west of Gaza City, where she arrived after a displacement trip that forced the family to move four times, after being displaced from Jabalia in the north.
“This tent broke our backs; we can’t even stand up inside it. I feel like I’m in prison,” he says, entering his flimsy makeshift home.
Pointing to a bag of bread hanging at the entrance of the store, he told our correspondent: “We hang the food so that it is away from the mice. The mice and rodents sleep among us in the store. This is a suffering more difficult than the war itself.”
water shortage
In a narrow hallway between the shops, Umm Ahmad stands in front of a small counter on which a container of soap and water has been placed to wash plates and cups. Due to shortages, families rely on manually storing water in plastic containers in quantities that do not meet daily needs.
“There is very little water, when it is available we can clean it. The possibilities are limited, as you can see, and the situation is disgusting. That is life in the tents.”
Tents have become a prolonged way of daily life for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, amid collapsing infrastructure and no clear prospect of returning to destroyed homes.
UN partners on the ground report that access to water remains a major challenge, with three in four families relying on truck deliveries. Humanitarian partners thus supply around 24,000 cubic meters of water every day through approximately 2,000 distribution points.
However, those deliveries depend on generators and machinery that are at risk of breaking down due to shortages of maintenance and repair supplies. Humanitarian organizations continue to insist that essential supplies must be urgently allowed into Gaza to prevent the collapse of critical equipment.
Life turned into rubble
Sitting on a small plastic barrel, Umm Ahmad remembers the spacious house and the life she once had: “We used to live in a five-story house equipped with all the necessities of life, with apartments for our children to marry, but it was destroyed by the war.
“We had everything, we lived in luxury and suddenly our lives turned upside down and we lived in tents. This is our fourth displacement; we have been on the streets for three years.”
More than two and a half years after Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel and sparked a massive counteroffensive, the cloth tents scattered across Gaza are no longer simply temporary shelters for displaced people but have become a prolonged daily reality for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
‘Life of humiliation’
Overcome with frustration and sadness, she tells our correspondent: “No matter what I tell you, I can’t describe what life is like in the tents. In winter, the tent was flooded with rain every day and blown away by the wind. We put it back up and couldn’t dry our clothes or mattresses.
Most Gazans now live in tents.
“In summer, the suffering is even more severe because of mice, other rodents and insects. It is a life of humiliation; I can’t take it anymore.”
When asked by our reporter about privacy in stores, Umm Ahmad He said: “There is no privacy. We are all crowded into the tent. Now two of my children are getting married, we are trying to set up two tents for them, but the space is not enough. You can’t imagine what we are experiencing. Bathrooms and sanitation are another matter.”
The health situation in the enclave is devastating. There have been 22 reported attacks on healthcare in Gaza this year and only half of the hospitals are partially functional, while no hospital can be considered fully operational.
Umm Ahmad smiled only when her two grandchildren came to her and she began to console them. Where once there was space and abundance, life in the countryside is a constant struggle to satisfy even the most basic needs.