Infestation in Gaza: rats bite children, spread diseases and even destroy wedding dresses

Rat infestation spreads disease in displacement camps in Gaza Rats and parasites are spreading through tent camps in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians displaced by war live. Rodents are biting children’s hands and feet, spreading diseases and destroying what few belongings families have left. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp The infestation occurs while the majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. Many are living in homes destroyed by shelling and in makeshift tents set up in open land, on roadsides or on the ruins of destroyed buildings. In this environment, Palestinians report a collapsed environment, with rats biting children’s feet and hands at night and around 17,000 rodent-related infections recorded in 2026, according to the WHO. Read more below. Palestinians walk past piles of rubbish and waste near displaced people’s tents amid a proliferation of rodents in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 27, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer Just days before her wedding, Amani Abu Selmi, displaced with her family in Khan Younis, in the south, discovered that rats had gnawed through her clothes and layette bags inside the worn-out tent where they were sheltering. She and her mother showed Reuters the holes made by rodents in her dress — a traditional embroidered burgundy outfit typical of Palestinian weddings. “All my feeling of happiness ended, it turned into sadness, it turned into pain — because my things disappeared, my trousseau disappeared,” said 20-year-old Abu Selmi. Palestinian bride Amani Abu Selmi holds woolen clothes gnawed by rats inside a tent in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, April 26, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer Rats attack while people sleep A rat bit the hand and toes of Khalil Al-Mashharawi’s 3-year-old son a few weeks ago, he said. Last Friday, he himself was bitten. He said he and his wife now sleep in shifts to protect their children and each other from an infestation the family can neither control nor combat, as rat traps are largely ineffective in the destroyed homes and tent camps in Gaza. “They attack while we sleep. (…) They may disappear for a day or two before attacking again, making their way under the floors of the house,” said Al-Mashharawi, 26, who lives with his family in the ruins of their house in the Tuffah neighborhood in northern Gaza. Mohamed Abu Selmia, director of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, said he expects the problem to worsen as summer approaches and in light of an Israeli ban on the entry of pest control materials such as rat poison. The UN estimates that around 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged REUTERS Israel generally restricts the entry into Gaza of items it claims may have military or civilian use. As part of what it described as an effort with “all international actors and partners” to address the sanitation problem, Cogat — the Israeli military body that controls access to Gaza — said that, in recent weeks, it has facilitated the entry of around 90 tons of pest control materials and more than a thousand rat traps into the territory. “Every day, hospitals report cases of patients being admitted due to rodent-related incidents, especially among children, the elderly and the sick,” Abu Selmia said. There is also great concern about the spread of dangerous diseases, including rat bite fever, leptospirosis and even plague, he added. ‘A collapsed living environment’ The October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas did little to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where sewage and sanitation systems have largely been destroyed by Israel and humanitarian aid is subject to Israeli restrictions. Israel cites security concerns to impose restrictions on Gaza, where it continues to carry out attacks, claiming to act in the face of threats from Hamas. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed since October, while four Israeli soldiers have died in the same period. With garbage collection largely halted, contaminated water and waste accumulate near the “tent cities” where families sleep, cook and wash. This created an environment conducive to the proliferation of rodents and parasites, according to humanitarian organizations. Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, local representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that around 17,000 cases of infections related to rodents and ectoparasites have been recorded in Gaza so far this year. “This is just the unfortunate but predictable consequence of when people live in a collapsed living environment,” he said.

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