The escalation of wars in the Middle East has increased fears among Gazans that the war against us will be ignored. Residents here are demanding an end to the war and that it not spread to other countries. The war in Gaza continues to worsen on many fronts. The siege of the northern Gaza Strip and the spread of famine there. Deterioration of economic conditions. Increased cost of living. Closed railroad crossing. and lack of food, clothing, and supplies. The war has been going on for more than a year with no hope of ending anytime soon. People here are in a state of extreme fear as there has been no discussion about an impending ceasefire.
After more than a year of war, life has become different for us. We never stop trying to survive each day. War is not about rockets, bullets and shells. War has a variety of effects that threaten human life. It may be impossible to compare the life you were used to before the war with the life you are still trying to adjust to. You can’t do that.
Before the war, there was water. Now I do it about 3 days a week. Still, we try to last as long as possible so that it is good enough for us. In our house, it is responsible for carrying water to the tank on the roof. I carry a bucket too big for my body all the way to the only place I can use to wash my clothes and myself. However, that water is never clean.
None of the water available in Gaza is fit for use. Even drinking water is contaminated. You can taste it. The saltiness was unmistakable, and I suffered from severe infections during the last few months of the war. But I can’t help but drink it. There are no alternatives. When aid finally entered Gaza in June, it had clean water. I bought a large amount for my mother who suffers from high blood pressure, but salt water is bad for her health. We don’t want to infect her and suddenly lose her. Gaza does not have a good health care system. It was completely destroyed during the war.
The wheels of life stopped here. Israeli strip bombing destroyed two-thirds of the desalination plant. City services are not functioning due to lack of fuel to operate trucks. The trucks are supposed to carry the garbage and dispose of it away from civilians and displaced people. There is also no fuel to run the sewage pumps that filled the roads and are now flooded. Everything related to war comes together to pollute the water.
Miraculously, we have survived each successive phase of this war’s suffering, including the bombing campaigns, water contamination, and subsequent epidemics.
The first disease that struck me early last winter was a hepatitis virus. It spread everywhere. We were afraid of getting infected and didn’t know how to protect ourselves. There were no disinfectants on the market, but we were still trying to protect ourselves in every possible way. At least during the coronavirus pandemic, we were able to get what we needed. That wasn’t possible during the war. There were no detergents, no disinfectants, no nothing. During the hepatitis epidemic, I spent a lot of time in the market looking for cleaning products, but I couldn’t find anything good. I started buying handmade products in Gaza, but they were very expensive. A bottle, which cost about $3 before the war, can now reach $50.
In April I made a documentary about Rafah’s children. Filming took about a week. We were filming smoothly and things were going well, but two weeks later, hepatitis struck the crew along with other illnesses. The cameraman contracted the virus and I developed severe pneumonia. We were very afraid of passing the infection on to our families. I tried to isolate myself. We didn’t even have the courage to go to the hospital because it was unsanitary and overcrowded hospitals could worsen everyone’s health and accelerate the spread of contagious diseases. Instead, we tried to treat ourselves at home. Thankfully, both the photographer and I were able to overcome the illness and survive, albeit with great difficulty.
Also, due to the lack of food, everyone has a very weakened immune system, which makes them more susceptible to these diseases. Before the war, we ate a variety of foods. But now, with the crossings for supplies and aid closed, we can hardly even find our daily meals. (Editor’s note: During the week of October 14, Israel allowed some entry after the US warned Israel that it would cut military aid if it did not allow humanitarian aid to Gaza. “There is a hunger crisis,” the New York Times reported.
The surge in hepatitis was followed by skin diseases carried by various insects that gathered on the streets and in the sewage and trash piles of the areas where the refugees were staying. The most dangerous skin diseases are those that affect children, where they attack the skin and require ointments and antibiotics to control it.
Khan Yunis refugee camp is considered the most destroyed area of the city. The barrage of missiles that fell in the area made it dangerously contaminated with explosives. When I took shelter at my sister’s house in the area, I noticed that my skin was showing a lot of sores and infections. My sister’s children Adam and Rital also suffered from those skin diseases. The treatment is very expensive, but the parents searched the remaining pharmacies for a cure to save their children. My sister was able to buy the medicine she needed, but she is still worried about her child’s health. They are in an area full of debris from Israeli camp bombings.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on earth, and pollution surrounds everyone, especially in some densely populated areas. Infection spreads like wildfire. When you step outside, you’ll see a sewage pool that fills the entire road right next to the water pipe. Here citizens get what they need to survive, including simply for drinking, because they can’t find it anywhere else. Without cooking gas or wood to start a fire, you can’t even think much about how to sterilize your water before drinking it. I don’t even know what’s still burning.
I was horrified when the Ministry of Health announced in August that poliovirus had been found in sewage. I began to imagine the sights I saw in the city. Puddles of sewage next to water hoses, destroyed infrastructure with sewage leaking into underground water tanks, and missile holes dug deep into the ground. The water pumps and wells here in Khan Yunis have been completely destroyed.
Parents were afraid for their children. I often heard mothers who had no experience or knowledge about polio and its effects on their children. Some of them said, “My son may have symptoms, but we don’t know if he has polio or not.” Many mothers lived far from health centers, and continuous bombing made travel between regions extremely dangerous. We are always thinking about my sister’s children and how we can protect them and save them from this war. When we learned that polio was spreading, we called her and told her to boil water before drinking, to bathe regularly, and to use ointments to prevent the spread of skin diseases. We gave them several instructions, including keeping children away from crowds.
It was a painful conversation with lots of tears. We don’t have everything we need to protect them. There isn’t enough water to regularly clean what’s left of her apartment. Walls are destroyed, the air becomes polluted, and insects are more likely to invade. When I told her to sterilize the water, she replied that they don’t have enough cooking gas and can only boil water once a day. There are very few cleaning products on the market. She can hardly even find some of them. No matter what we try, survival will be at stake if this war continues.
Ruwaida Amer
Despite surviving the war, I was proud of my hometown. But now everything I loved is gone.
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After news of polio broke, the World Health Organization tried to save children’s lives by offering vaccinations against the virus. Many awareness sessions have been held among displaced tents to inform mothers about this, but awareness alone is not enough. We know that fighting infectious diseases requires clean water, disinfectants, and vaccinations.
Finally, WHO, UNICEF and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency were able to begin vaccinating children. But tens of thousands of children are still trying to get to vaccination centers to get their shots. Israel reportedly agreed to a pause in vaccinations on humanitarian grounds, but there was no pause in bombing. Vaccine centers themselves have also been hit. The fear is particularly acute in northern Gaza. Children still go to get their vaccinations, but everyone is worried that they will be attacked by missiles. But that’s the only thing they can do.
Why President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s phone call is so worrying President Trump’s pitch to women voters is grotesque. That also makes perfect sense. It was a controversial program in pre-war Israel. Now, more than ever, there is controversy. Josh Hawley Issue and January 6, 2025
They may survive being bombed, or they may be able to survive an epidemic by being vaccinated. But then what? As long as the war continues and the bombing does not stop for even a moment, our fear will never end. I often think about whether my family and I will survive this war, not just the bullets but the dire threats to our health.
At 10:30pm on August 16th, I was upstairs at home activating my internet chip. When I was about to work, I suddenly heard a terrible sound, like a missile falling very close to me. Since I was alone and my family was downstairs, I thought I could hear the missile explosion at medium volume. But the sound was loud and frightening, a very strong explosion. I heard flying debris, stones, and glass. I screamed for someone to come and help me. She suffered many bruises, but was desperate to contact her family. I struggled to reach the downstairs, screaming at them. It was dark and there was thick smoke. I couldn’t see anyone and couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t until after the bombing that we discovered all the damage to our house. Somehow I managed to avoid death.
Even if you’re far away from the bombs, you’re never safe here. Can we survive epidemics, pollution, and starvation? It is impossible to know, but nothing is impossible.
