Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – In an area of less than 3 square kilometers (1.1 square miles), 100,000 people struggle to survive. This small part of Gaza is quickly becoming uninhabitable.
“We dump waste in remote areas on the outskirts of the camp, but these spaces are full,” Hatem al-Ghamri, the mayor of the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera. “We are facing a real disaster.”
Maghazi, Gaza’s smallest refugee camp, located near Deir el-Balah in the center of the enclave, normally houses 30,000 people. Today, with the displacement of residents fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment in the north and west, the population has more than tripled while Israeli air raids continue on homes and shelters.
The camp is experiencing serious problems. With the accumulation of waste, total lack of water and massive overpopulation, epidemics began.
Despite its location in the southern Gaza Strip – where Israeli forces ordered northern civilians to flee before beginning their ground invasion from the north – the small camp was subjected to intense artillery and air raids.
Such air raids against civilian camps and infrastructure have become commonplace. The Jabalia refugee camp has been targeted at least three times, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. Civilian infrastructure, including schools, was also bombed in the south.
Bakery and water well bombed
At the Maghazi camp, Israeli air raids destroyed the camp’s only bakery on October 26, the mayor said. For seven consecutive days, not a single loaf of bread has been distributed to residents.
The Maghazi camp includes two accommodation centers for displaced civilians in two UNRWA schools, each now housing 12,000 people. A third UNRWA school was bombed.
Due to overcrowding, displaced people in UNRWA schools face increasing challenges, including the spread of diseases such as smallpox and scabies, and lack of access to essential resources such as water , food and basic necessities for children like diapers and milk. Women also do not have access to sanitary napkins.
“Maghazi camp has seven water wells, two of which were targeted by the occupation in the eastern area,” al-Ghamri explained. “The remaining five wells cannot be operated by the municipality due to the Israeli occupation’s ban on the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip.
“We need 300 to 500 liters of fuel to run the five wells, and that also requires us to pump 3,000 cups. With the number of displaced people increasing, we need to pump double, but we cannot.
Insects and epidemics began to spread in Maghazi camp due to the accumulation of large quantities of waste. Workers can no longer access the usual landfills in Wadi Gaza and east of the town of Rafah.
In addition to the spread of diseases, populations face the threat of famine. “We are facing significant difficulties in providing food in the Maghazi camp,” al-Ghamri said.
“All municipalities in the Gaza Strip suffer from deteriorated machines that need to be replaced, and we work to maintain them periodically,” he said.
“There are only two vehicles available in Maghazi municipality, and they are used not only for municipal tasks but also for transporting the injured due to repeated violent Israeli attacks. They are also used to transport food aid.
Arrival of flour “a miracle”
The commune of Maghazi received 1,000 bags of flour, but only by chance, said the mayor.
“The flour was provided miraculously. When occupation tanks targeted a car on Salah al-Din Street on Monday, we were in the area and the UNRWA truck was on its way to Gaza City, in the west of the Strip. He refused to continue his journey and contacted UNRWA to distribute this sum to the Maghazi camp (instead),” al-Ghamri explained.
But it won’t last long. The mayor explained that the camp needs 5,000 bags of flour, each containing 25 kg, to meet the needs of residents and displaced people every few days.
There are 30 Maghazi Municipality employees, each working eight hours on normal days. Today, they work 24 hours a day, in increasingly dangerous conditions.
“When one of the wells was targeted, municipal employees were working there,” al-Ghamri said. “Miraculously, they survived and some of them were injured by shrapnel during the bombing.
“Under the coordination of UNRWA, the Red Cross and the Ramallah Water Authority, a municipal employee inspected the main water pipe in the entire central region of the Gaza Strip. We are currently working on repairing it after the Israeli occupation targeted and destroyed it. »
The mayor said the municipality was running out of options.
“Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the deaths of 10,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are children and women. Israel targets doctors, health workers, journalists, paramedics and civil defense personnel.
“Everyone in Gaza is being targeted. »