Rubbish flooding the streets of Gaza City is creating new health risks, residents say. Displaced Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have found once-bustling cities reduced to toxic wastelands, according to residents and aid agencies. Shocked by the level of destruction, Gaza City residents are calling for action over a building sanitation crisis in the enclave’s largest city.
A scene of devastation has met those hoping to rebuild their lives in the northern reaches of the enclave, the focus of the most concentrated Israeli military action during the war. The dangers posed by damaged buildings are matched by missing public services and streets filled with heaps of rubbish.
Last month’s ceasefire agreement spurred a dash by uprooted people to re-enter the north. Yet, Gaza City still lacks running water or reliable electricity. Towns have not been provided with such services as water or healthcare, UNICEF’s Tess Ingram said. They’ve been shocked by what they’ve returned to,” she said from Gaza City.
“They had hoped that their homes, their neighbourhoods, their communities maybe had been spared. And as they come back here and realise that’s not the case, the hope they’ve been holding onto for 15 months crashes.” Mounds of toxic rubbish litter central areas of the city, including the business centre, amplifying the spread of disease.
“Accumulation of waste in the vicinity of hospitals gives rise to grave health risks, mainly the outbreak of diseases and epidemics,” said Amin al-Alia, a nurse at Ahli Hospital. It is extremely dangerous,” resident Ahmed Nasser told. “We hope it is removed at the earliest possible time.”
