War has a high cost, and it is especially difficult on innocent people. In Gaza, the Israel-Hamas war, which has already lasted more than eight months, has resulted in serious skin illnesses among youngsters.
Many Gazans, including adults and children, are suffering from skin infections like scabies, chicken pox, lice, impetigo, and other severe rashes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 150,000 Palestinians have suffered skin ailments in the deplorable conditions into which displaced Gazans have been forced since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7.
Wafaa Elwan, a Gazan lady, told AFP: “We sleep on the ground, on sand where worms come out underneath us.” Her family is one of thousands that live on a sandy beach near the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.
The mother of seven believes that infections are unavoidable.
“We can no longer bathe our children the way we used to. There are no hygiene or sanitary materials for us to wash and clean the area. “There is nothing.”
Previously, parents told their children to wash in the Mediterranean. However, pollution has accumulated as a result of the war’s destruction of fundamental infrastructure, increasing the risk of sickness.
“The sea is full of sewage.” “They even throw garbage and baby napkins into the sea,” she explained.
Since the commencement of the Gaza war, the WHO has reported 96,417 instances of scabies and lice. This figure comprises 9,274 chickenpox cases, 60,130 skin rashes, and 10,038 impetigo cases.
Scabies and chickenpox, according to Sami Hamid, a pharmacist who runs a temporary clinic in the Deir al-Balah camp, are particularly prevalent in coastal Palestinian territory.
“The hot weather and the lack of clean water,” he warned, harm children’s skin.
Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, Doctors Without Borders’ (MSF) medical coordinator in Gaza, told AFP that children are vulnerable because “they are children — they play outside, they’ll touch anything, eat anything without washing it”.
