A displaced woman told FN news Correspondent in Gaza: “In all camps we suffer from biting insects, especially fleas,” adds that “our children suffer from severe pain due to itching and prickly.
“We tried to treat it in simple ways, but the right drugs are not available at the Medical Center.”
While biting insects found in Gaza are not immediately life -threatening, the presence of rodents, including rats, may increase the risk of spreading infectious diseases that the Gaza health system may not be able to treat.
Inadequate sanitation
The lack of adequate sanitation, including limited access to clean toilets, general overcrowding when people try to find places to live among the rubble in Gaza – and the challenges of removing waste from the streets – have reinforced the threat that rats pose.
Teams from UNRWA, the UN Agency, which supports the population of Gaza, have initiated intensive clean-up operations as well as environmental and health awareness campaigns. The number of dermatology consultations in health facilities has also increased.
UNRWA workers are actively moving through tents for displaced people in Khan Younis in the southern part of Gaza Rib Spray pesticides to counter the spread of insects, fleas and rodents.
Uns -collected garbage in Gaza encourages rats.
UNRWA teams have worked at about 50 shifts in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
They have focused on places where there is overfilling, incorrect disposal of waste, the presence of livestock and the lack of hygiene materials.
“Due to the intense heat and sleeping on the sand, we were exposed to bite insects, rodents and mosquitoes,” said a resident when he saw an UNRWA environmental health officer spray insecticides around temporary shelters.
A doctor from UNRWAS Environmental Health Team explains mothers how to treat insect bites.
Education Sessions
In a nearby tent, a group of women gathered about consciousness-encompassing instructors from the agency’s environmental health office for an educational session on how to protect against insects and rodents.
The meetings are targeted at women, girls and young people to make them aware of how to face this health challenge.
Meanwhile, Gaza is struggling to fight since October 7, 2023 -attack from Hamas in Israel, the broken conflict precipitated.
No humanitarian help or supplies have entered the Gaza Strip since March 2, 2025 due to Israel’s total blockade.
UNRWA says vital humanitarian supplies including food, fuel, medical help and children vaccines are almost exhausted.
The agency warned that pesticide stocks are expected to run out within a few days in southern Gaza while already running out into the central areas and north of the strip.
