Gaza Displaced Camps Infested by Rats, Weasels as Disease Spreads, Aid Agencies Warn
In the Gaza Strip, four-year-old Mayaseen al-Daabla was bitten by a weasel in her family's tent at 02:00, according to her mother, Samah al-Daabla. The child subsequently suffered days of fever and vomiting following a tetanus injection. This incident highlights a pervasive problem across Gaza's displaced camps, where urban weasels and rats are inflicting bites and spreading disease, intensifying an already dire humanitarian situation.
Aid organisations are urgently calling for intervention to counter a burgeoning public health crisis. Social media platforms have shown footage of rats in camps and reports detail rodents attacking newborn babies, the infirm, and the elderly. One account describes a grandmother, whose toes were partially bitten off due to nerve damage from diabetes. A recent survey cited by UN agencies found that 80% of sites housing displaced families, affecting approximately 1.45 million people, exhibit frequent visibility of rodents or other pests.
Dr. Reinhilde Van De Weert, the local World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, stated that these infestations are the "predictable consequence of a collapsed living environment." The ongoing military action and severe restrictions on reconstruction have left Gaza without critical infrastructure, including an estimated 200,000 caravans needed for temporary housing. Raw sewage flowing through overcrowded camps and vast piles of uncollected rubbish create ideal breeding grounds for these animals, a situation set to worsen with warmer weather.
Parents are forced to keep vigil through the night to protect their children. Rizq Abu Laila, living next to a Gaza City rubbish dump with his four young children, one of whom has cancer, lamented, "We cannot sleep! If we sleep, they bite the children and disturb us. There are so many weasels and rats – an abnormal number." He described rats tearing clothes and consuming flour, alongside persistent mosquito infestations and foul odours. This grim reality persists even as the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
UN agencies report efforts to improve pest control, drainage, and sanitation. Ettie Higgins, Unicef's deputy representative for Palestine, emphasised the necessity of a "very large-scale campaign to be able to deal with the waste and rubble problems across Gaza," noting destroyed pipes and treatment facilities. However, humanitarian efforts are hampered by the scarcity of heavy lifting equipment and spare parts, alongside restricted access to major landfill sites, which are now under Israeli military control. The entry of vital supplies, from chemicals to pipes, remains severely limited by Israeli authorities, citing security concerns that such materials could be repurposed by Hamas, an assertion frequently used to justify a blockade that directly impacts civilian welfare.
Cogat, the Israeli defence body, stated it works with international organisations to address sanitation and infrastructure needs, claiming coordination for waste removal, equipment entry, and facilitating nearly 1,000 rat traps and 10 tonnes of pesticides into Gaza. Despite these claims, the WHO has recorded approximately 111,500 cases of disease or infestation from external parasites this year, including scabies, lice, and bed bugs, with over 80% of households reporting skin infections. Residents anticipate a significant increase in pests and associated health hazards as summer approaches.
Hassan Al-Faqaawi, a father-of-six in Khan Younis, living in a house with only its external walls standing, described enduring nights of constant scratching from fleas and mosquitoes, alongside rats and weasels. "We need something to deal with it. I don't see any lasting peace at all in Gaza. Life is much harder than it was before. There is no life," he stated, a stark commentary on the conditions under the ongoing occupation and blockade, which human rights organisations like Amnesty International have concluded constitutes genocide in Gaza.
