'Rats are like a storm': Palestinians seek refuge in the fight against garbage and rats
Rats jump between the tents at the Yarmouk stadium in Gaza City. It's dark and hard to see, but their quick movements pass through piles of debris and cause the tent dwellers to panic.
Palestinians were left homeless after Israeli planes flew through the rubble of the field, pitching corrugated iron tents near the dump.
Those hiding in these tents say that the big black rats that run in them sit on people while they are sleeping, and sometimes bite them, which leads to the spread of diseases.
“Rats are like a hurricane…. I'm really sick of the rats and the life we live here,” Fathi Subh told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed ElSaife. “In the garbage, from cowards, insects, rats. Big rats.”
Subh said he was treated at the hospital for rat bite wounds.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says two million Palestinians in Gaza remain displaced despite a fragile October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and many still live in tents around the area.
But with the Gaza Strip devastated, aid agencies say conditions have improved for rat infestations, leaving families struggling and suffering from diseases the rats can spread.
In AprilThe United Nations has reported that there have been more than 70,000 cases of “ectoparasitic” attacks – or cases where bugs or insects burrow under the skin of a person and cause bites or infections – since the beginning of the year.
The report also noted that “more than 80 percent of migration sites reported rodents or insects as common sightings, as well as skin diseases such as scabies, lice, and bedbugs.”
The US Centers for Disease Control says rats can spread hantavirus, Leptospirosis and rat-bite fever among other health issues to humans.
COGAT, the Israeli military organization that controls access to Gaza, said in recent weeks it had allowed the entry of about 82 tons of pest control materials and more than 1,000 rats into the fenced area.
That action was part of what it said was an effort “with all international actors and partners” to tackle the sanitation problem.
Kifh Subh, 38, says he tried to attach the tarpaulin he built his tent to the ground and used traps and poison, but to no avail. The mother of seven raised an unused trap and says all her efforts to fight this scourge are futile.
Rat and vermin infestations are rife in Gaza's displacement camps – where waste, sewage and pollution are leading to outbreaks that health officials expect to worsen in the summer.
“Fear and fear is enough for us…. No one can fight these rats and mice at night.”
Dr. Ayman Abu Rahma of the Gaza Ministry of Health said AlJazeera last month that Gaza is “a dangerous place for life.”
He says that there has been an increase in emergency and care cases caused by rat bites, especially in children and adults.
In a statement sent to CBC News, Joel Onyeke, who is in charge of Save the Children's operations in Gaza, said that rats and insects are “increasingly visible” and can be seen on the streets, in temporary roadside tents and in the garbage.
“Collection of waste, limited disposal methods and sewer collapses have all contributed to the worsening situation.”
Onyeke also said that the enclave is still struggling with a lot of debris, “some of which may still have bodies that have not been recovered,” making the situation worse.
“Insecticides are the only solution in Gaza to stop the attack,” said Onyeke.
“Rat traps are not working … because of the state of rubble and the environment in Gaza.”
Basel Al-Dahnoun, another resident of the Yarmouk Stadium camp, said he woke up at midnight last week covered in blood due to a wound on his leg from a rat bite.
“We are fighting for the United Nations and the Arab nations and those who will listen to send us poison to fight these rats.”
The 48-year-old suspect said that a rash broke out on his head and back because of this incident and his eight-year-old daughter was bitten and her leg was already swollen.
Sanitation and sanitation systems in Gaza have been severely damaged and humanitarian aid is under Israeli restrictions.
Israel cites security concerns over humanitarian and infrastructure restrictions in Gaza, where it has continued to operate. fatal attacksaying that its action was due to threats from Hamas.
More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the area. More than 800 people have died since October, the department said. The military action followed an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 people kidnapped, according to Israeli figures.
With waste collection largely suspended in Gaza, sewage and garbage have piled up around the tent cities where families sleep, cook and wash. This has given rodents and parasites a unique environment in which to spread, aid groups say.
“This puts public health at great risk, as rats can carry and transmit diseases, contaminate food sources and exacerbate already challenging living conditions,” said Onyeke.
This square is not the only place in Gaza where people struggle with rats. The Abu Assi school in the Al-Shati refugee camp is also facing the same fate.
Maha Alian, 39, said rats invaded the classroom where he and his family of eight students lived, leaving his children afraid to eat and sleep.
“I was exposed to bombs and debris and now I am suffering from rats,” he said. “We don't know how we're going to live our lives.”
