https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-ea ... 026-04-30/
Rats infest Gaza's tent camps, biting children and spreading disease
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Haseeb Alwazeer
April 30, 20264:57 AM CDTUpdated 3 hours ago
Item 1 of 2 Palestinians walk past piles of garbage and waste near tents for displaced people, amid the spread of rodents, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 27, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer
[1/2] Palestinians walk past piles of garbage and waste near tents for displaced people, amid the spread of rodents, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 27, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer
Summary
Gaza sees rat, parasite infestation in camps for displaced
17,000 rodent-, parasite-related infections reported in 2026
Gaza's sanitation system was largely destroyed during war
Gazans already grappling with Israeli attacks, aid shortages
CAIRO/GAZA, April 30 (Reuters) - Rats and parasites are spreading through Gaza's tent camps for displaced Palestinians, biting children's fingers and toes as they sleep, gnawing through people's few remaining treasured possessions, and spreading disease.
The outbreak is unfolding as most of Gaza's more than 2 million people have been displaced, many now living in bombed-out homes and makeshift tents pitched on open ground, roadsides, or atop the ruins of destroyed buildings.
Just days before her wedding day, Amani Abu Selmi, displaced with her family in Khan Younis in the south, discovered that rats had gnawed through the garments and bags of her wedding trousseau inside the tattered tent where they have been sheltering.
She and her mother showed Reuters holes the rodents had eaten through her gown, a traditional burgundy embroidered dress that is customary in Palestinian weddings.