By Reem Sweisi
GAZA, April 4, 2026 (WAFA) – 68-year-old Ensherah Hajjaj woke up to find blood flowing from her feet, only to discover that a rat had eaten her toes inside a tent in central Gaza—without her feeling it, as she suffers from diabetes.
The incident involving Hajjaj reflects the painful reality endured by displaced people in the Gaza Strip, who live alongside rats and insects, especially in tents where there are no secure doors or means of protection. Families share their limited space with rodents, which have become part of daily life.
A few days earlier, an infant named Adam Al-Ostaz, just 28 days old, was bitten by a large rat in a displacement tent sheltering his family in the Al-Maqousi area west of Gaza City. The bite caused a deep wound in his small cheek.
The problem of rodents and rats in displacement camps in Gaza is considered one of the most serious health and environmental issues facing displaced people, especially amid deteriorating living conditions and a lack of basic humanitarian services.
Hajjaj, who lives in the Arafat camp in central Gaza with her elderly husband—who suffers from a mental illness—had just returned from treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital when she spoke:
“Yesterday, I went to bed at one in the morning,” she said. “I stayed up so late because of the noise and movement of rats in the tent.”
She continued, her voice trembling: “When I woke up for the dawn prayer, I discovered my bed soaked in blood. Large rats had bitten my toes. I didn’t even feel it at the time because I have diabetic neuropathy.”
“Rats live with us in these tents,” she added. “They eat what we eat, sleep where we sleep—and now they have eaten my feet.”
As she examined her swollen foot, wrapped in white gauze, she asked in despair: “What is the solution? How long will rats keep gnawing on us day and night? Since I can’t feel my feet, if they were completely eaten, how would I even know?”
Describing the nightly ordeal, she said: “When I sleep, I can feel something moving under my pillow—rats scurrying everywhere. Even the mat we lay on the tent floor shifts at night because of them.”
It is worth noting that Hajjaj has no provider; she herself cares for her sick husband, who suffers from brain function atrophy.
She appealed to the municipality to address this problem affecting displaced people in the camps, which has turned life there into unbearable hell, saying:
“I’m afraid to sleep in the tent tonight.”
Hajjaj currently lives in Arafat camp after being displaced from the Al-Mansoura neighborhood in Shuja’iyya, east of Gaza City, after her home was destroyed during the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Cold weather, disease, rodents, and insects continue to deepen the suffering of displaced residents, posing serious risks to their health and underscoring the urgent need for intervention to improve living conditions in the camps.
M.N
