Rats, fleas trouble Gaza’s displaced as temperatures rise

Rats, fleas trouble Gaza’s displaced as temperatures rise
————————————
As springtime temperatures rise in Gaza, a surge in rats, fleas and other pests has intensified the misery of hundreds of thousands of displaced people still living in tents after more than two years of war, Al Arabiya reported.

With meagre shelter and almost no sanitation, Palestinians told AFP the vermin are invading their makeshift homes, biting children and contaminating food, in what aid agencies warned was a growing public health threat.

With shelters erected directly on soft sand by the Mediterranean Sea, rodents can easily burrow under tent walls and wreck havoc inside, where people have established makeshift pantries and kitchens.

Nearly all of Gaza’s population was displaced by Israeli evacuation orders and airstrikes during the war with Hamas that began after the group’s attack on Israel in October 2023.

According to the UN, 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants still live in displacement camps, unable to return home or to areas that remain under Israeli military control despite a ceasefire that began in October 2025.

According to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, at least 777 people have been killed by Israel’s military since the start of the ceasefire.

The military says five of its soldiers have also been killed in Gaza over the same period.