War isn’t just destroyed buildings and displaced populations; it is a humanitarian tragedy that leaves behind long-term physical consequences on individuals and communities.
Repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals and the heavy Israeli restrictions on aid entering Gaza over the past 15 months have left the healthcare sector unable to provide necessary medical care due to a lack of medical and human resources. Many hospitals were destroyed, while others closed due to bombing or shortages of essential supplies. Doctors and nurses faced immense pressure, dealing with overwhelming numbers of patients amid severe shortages of equipment and medications. Israeli forces have subjected medical staff to extreme abuse, killing dozens of doctors and healthcare professionals, and imprisoning and torturing many more.
The war in Gaza has led to the spread of numerous diseases due to devastated infrastructure, environmental pollution, lack of basic health services, overcrowded refugee camps and displacement shelters, and shortages of water and electricity. I myself have experienced how these illnesses are part of the hidden toll of the war, with real, long-term consequences on those affected. While a ceasefire is currently in place, the health situation remains extremely precarious in Gaza, with unsanitary conditions continuing to pose a risk, even if the bombs have stopped.
Hepatitis A, Food Poisoning and Skin Diseases Run Rampant
One of the most prevalent diseases in Gaza, hepatitis A, is caused by drinking contaminated water. As Israel destroyed Gaza’s water and sewage networks, people had no choice but to rely on polluted water sources for survival, leading to the widespread outbreak of the virus.
Thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge in crowded schools, hospitals, or tent encampments, with only one bathroom on average for some 700 people, causing the disease to spread like wildfire.
Symptoms begin with extreme fatigue, body exhaustion, nausea, vomiting, and an inability to eat anything. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for hepatitis A, and it can take weeks or months to recover from it.
I contracted hepatitis A after using a public bathroom. I never imagined that a minute in that restroom would be enough to catch it or cause me so much pain. A few days later, I began feeling severe exhaustion all throughout my body, and I couldn’t stand on my feet for more than a few minutes. I couldn’t eat anything, and the nausea, vomiting, and dry heaving were persistent. It felt like my insides were coming out. I could taste sour bile in my mouth. I completely lost my appetite, losing six kilograms (13 pounds) in the span of two weeks.
The whole time, I cried from the severe pain and was terrified of passing the infection to my family, especially my sister’s young children.
The lack of electricity and Israel’s destruction of food storage and transportation infrastructure has led to mass food spoilage in Gaza, which in turn is causing widespread food poisoning among the population, especially in overcrowded displacement shelters. With Gaza facing famine, contaminated food presents a terrible risk for hundreds of thousands of people already struggling with starvation with few options to feed themselves.
Food poisoning can cause vomiting, diarrhea, fever, aches, and dehydration, and its effects can be particularly severe for children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems — which is likely the case for most people in Gaza after surviving for more than a year in abysmal conditions.
A simple meal of rice and vegetables left Noura Hamdan’s five children nauseous and vomiting for several days.
“My children got food poisoning after eating food provided by a donor organization,” she said. “We didn’t realize it was spoiled. I still remember my children’s joy as they ate it with so much enthusiasm after the severe hunger we had endured.”
Tragically, food has often been sold already rotten or unfit for consumption, deceiving desperate people suffering from hunger in cruel ways.
Rahaf Saber, 19, was staying outside of Deir al-Balah with her family when she found a vendor at the market who sold powdered milk for 20 shekels (around $6).
“I was so happy and bought it, then went home,” Rahaf remembered. “When I opened it, it had a strange smell. I thought that’s just how it was. I tried to prepare a cup of it, but its look and taste were even worse. I checked the expiry date and found it had expired.”
“I went back to the vendor to inform him, but he told me it wasn’t his responsibility and refused to refund me. When I asked him if he would let his children drink it, he arrogantly replied that he bought the expensive kind for his children, not this one,” the young woman recalled. Rahaf threw the milk powder away, angry at having wasted precious funds on spoiled food.
“How could someone knowingly sell expired milk? I’ll never forget the happiness of my younger siblings when I told them I had bought it.”
Like many others in Gaza, Noura and Rahaf have faced a roller coaster of emotions, from the joy of finally finding something to feed their families to terrible disappointment and preferring to keep going hungry rather than risk food poisoning.
Scabies, lice, and fungal skin infections have also become widespread due to the lack of clean water and personal hygiene facilities and products available in displacement shelters. As of July 2024, the World Health Organization reported that some 150,000 people had contracted skin conditions due to squalid living conditions in Gaza.
Ali Ghabayen, a 14-year-old boy, contracted scabies in the summer of 2024 after living with his family in a crowded shelter in Deir al-Balah. “The itching didn’t stop for weeks, and there was no quick treatment,” he said. “My body was covered in sores and scars. It was very painful, and the scars are still on my body.”
Dr. Islam Al-Jourani recalls the heartbreaking case of one young patient she treated at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
“A 10-year-old girl came to me — I think she chose me because I’m a woman, and she felt it would be easier to confide in me than another doctor. She wore a headscarf, which surprised me considering her young age. She told me she had lice in her hair and was struggling to sleep because of it,” she recalled.
Dr. Jourani asked her to remove her scarf so she could see what was bothering her, but the young girl refused.
“She seemed embarrassed, so I took her aside to a private area,” the doctor said. “When she removed her scarf, I was shocked. Her head was a colony of lice. Her hair was so stiff it stuck to her ears, and when I tried to pull it back, her ears became inflamed from the dirt and matted hair. How had this girl endured such a state? That’s when I understood why she wore the scarf and felt ashamed.”
Dr. Jourani advised her patient to use a special shampoo for lice, but the girl told her she had no running water where she lived, and couldn’t afford the shampoo. Wanting to help her, the doctor prescribed a special cream for her ears and directed her to get it for free from the hospital pharmacy. Unfortunately, the hospital had no lice shampoo available.
“The next day, I saw her in the hospital courtyard getting her head shaved,” Dr. Jourani remembered. “A barber was there working with simple tools for a small fee. That poor girl. I stood to the side watching her, not wanting her to see me and feel more embarrassed. But she saw me, and when our eyes met, I saw deep sadness and tears.”
Lungs Filled With Smoke and Dust
Inhaling smoke and dust from collapsed buildings combined with living in unhygienic shelters has caused widespread respiratory infections and diseases in Gaza.
Souad Hussein, an elderly woman, lost her home in Khan Younis in an Israeli airstrike and was forced to take refuge in a crowded school.
“I suffered from severe pneumonia due to the cold and dust,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe easily, and there wasn’t enough medication.”
Pneumonia hit Souad particularly hard due to her old age. While the school sometimes provided her with medicine, access was irregular. To this day, she feels the changes in her lung health depending on the weather, with the winters feeling particularly harsh.
“I just want to return home,” she said.
Exposure to smoke has also exacerbated pre-existing issues for those who already suffered from asthma or other chronic lung conditions — with sometimes fatal consequences.
My childhood friend Noor Ali Hassan lost three siblings in the war, two of them to respiratory failure.
Her sisters Malak and Alaa, both in their early twenties, had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition affecting the lungs and digestive system by producing thick mucus.
“Their condition was stable until a nearby residential tower in the neighborhood of Nuseirat was bombed. My younger brother Abdul Rahman was martyred in that attack,” Noor said. The attack was during the first month of the war, October 31, 2023. “I remember seeing the area — it was hazy, dark, and filled with dust. I couldn’t breathe.”
The surviving family moved to a relative’s house in Rafah — but shortly afterward, Malak and Alaa’s conditions began deteriorating.
“Due to a lack of medication and power outages, Alaa’s condition kept getting worse. She became pale and weak, with yellow eyes and bleeding from her mouth,” Noor explained. “We took her to a hospital in Rafah and then to the European hospital [near Khan Younis], but her condition worsened, and she was no longer able to walk.”
“On Tuesday, January 9, at 3 a.m., we lost our beloved Alaa. Her farewell was heartbreaking, and she was buried in Rafah,” Noor said.
But the family’s heartbreak was far from over. “After Alaa’s death, Malak began showing the same symptoms: weakness, yellowing eyes, and the inability to walk. My father sought treatment for her outside Gaza. After two months of waiting, she was sent to Egypt, where she went with my sister Heba to the hospital in al-Arish, but her condition did not improve. She was later transferred to another hospital in Egypt, where she faced mistreatment and medical negligence,” Noor said.
“Despite the pain, Malak remained hopeful for her recovery, but she passed away on Friday, April 19, 2024, at 2 a.m., without us being able to say goodbye.”
Noor remembers both of her sisters as loving, intelligent, and driven — Alaa being a business graduate aspiring to pursue a master’s degree abroad, and Malak having recently received a degree in English education. It breaks her heart that they didn’t live to see the day the family was able to return back to al-Nuseirat.
“We knew we would lose them, but it was the worst thing that happened in my life. I can’t imagine going home without them. Malak, Alaa, Abdul Rahman, I miss you.”
Long-Term Health Consequences
Beyond immediate suffering, war leaves a lasting impact on survivors’ health. Respiratory diseases from inhaling dust and smoke, chronic skin infections, and infectious diseases like hepatitis A have become part of daily life in Gaza. Food insecurity and malnutrition not only carry the risk of food poisoning but also weaken the immune system, increasing vulnerability to illnesses and harsh living conditions. Patients with genetic or chronic health conditions like diabetes and diseases like cancer also face the consequences of not having access to life-saving treatment for more than a year.
These illnesses are not just temporary; their physical and psychological effects will accompany the patient for a long time, if not for life. The lack of access to treatment and resources in hospitals forces doctors and nurses to prioritize certain cases over others based on their severity. The situation is anything but humane.
The stories of patients in Gaza are not just statistics, but living testimonies to the immense suffering caused by conflict. Every family has been affected by these diseases. People have become accustomed to illness and exhaustion, and all they wish for is to simply survive. They left their homes, believing they would find safety in southern Gaza, only to face more lies from the occupation. Displacement conditions have been dire: overcrowding, tents that offered no protection from winter cold or summer heat, and no protection from the occupation’s missiles.
Even with the ceasefire, the health situation remains critical. Most hospitals and health centers are destroyed and unable to treat patients. Now more than ever, we need trucks of medicine, medical supplies, hospital beds, mobile medical units, and specialized doctors to alleviate Gaza’s suffering. While the war machine has slowed down, the abysmal living conditions deliberately created by Israel continue to claim victims.
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