Bulldozers plow through piles and piles of waste. As
residents in Han Y this worsening sanitation crisis is increasing
the risk of disease spreading and deepening the misery of
those living through the war raging in Gaza, Ahmed
Shala was displaced from Gaza city and is now living
in Han y no one is supporting us. The
smell is killing us. We can't sleep, we
can't, we can't drink. The smell is killing
us. We are calling on the municipality of Han
Yus to remove the waste. We can't sleep all
night. We're fighting mosquitoes and we can't stay still
. No one is caring for us. People are
catching diseases like scabies. No one is standing with
us, stand with us. The waste lined streets
which have been reduced to rubble during the conflict between
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. Since October,
Palestinians have faced Israeli air strikes, shelling and ground
offensives. They're also crippled by shortages of water,
food, fuel medicine and a lack of functioning hospitals
. And in what is one of the world's most
densely populated places. There is now an ever increasing
mountain of garbage but calling for government services to help
is wishful thinking a municipality official says nine months of
war have caused$200 million worth of damage to critical
infrastructure like sewage systems and waste trucks. With the
situation exacerbated by a lack of fuel which is needed
to operate the cleaning and sewage systems. The piling
up of waste has led to smells spread of insects
and rodents. In addition to the leakage of liquids
from the waste to the underground water reservoir, which
is the main source of water for the residents of
Han Unis and the Gaza enclave. Generally, this
dumping land was not correctly designed to stop the leakage
of waste liquids into underground water. Hamas attacked Israel
on October 7, killing 1200 people and taking about
250 people hostage. According to Israeli tallies, Israel
responded with an offensive that's killed more than 38,000 people
according to Gaza Health authorities.