Samah al‑Dabla, who fled Beit Lahiya, said her three‑year‑old daughter was bitten and treated at al‑Shifa Hospital after a rodent entered their tent. Displaced families across Gaza are facing rising rodent infestations that are invading tents and makeshift shelters, residents and aid workers say. Rodenticide is unaffordable for many, rubble provides new nesting sites, and officials warn the problem will worsen as temperatures rise.

Living amid rubble, living with rats

Samah al‑Dabla, a displaced woman who fled Beit Lahiya, sleeps in a tent beside a hill of broken concrete and twisted metal. She spends long hours trying to keep her children in sight and her shelter clean. Despite her efforts, she says rodents come nightly; one recent incident left her three‑year‑old daughter bitten and treated at al‑Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Tents and makeshift shelters sit next to piles of destroyed buildings that provide burrows and hiding places for rodents. With large sections of Gaza still in ruins after months of fighting, many families have nowhere to live other than these sites. The rubble, residents say, offers both cover and a food source.

“The situation is very frightening,” Samah told journalists, describing how the rodents moved across the slope behind her tent. She has tried to buy poison but found it too expensive after her husband’s work as a strawberry farmer stopped when the war began. Others who once could afford pest control say they now have no income to pay for it.

Mastheads

Health risks and wider strain

Rats in densely populated, unsanitary conditions raise familiar public‑health worries. Where access to clean water and functioning waste removal is limited, the presence of rodents can increase the risk of contaminated food and living spaces. Relief workers and residents fear seasonal warming will accelerate breeding and movement, heightening exposure.

Hospitals in Gaza continue to receive patients with injuries and disease related to the conflict. Staff have repeatedly cautioned that overcrowding, disrupted services and shortages of medicines make even routine care dangerous. Rodent incursions add another layer of demand for wound care, antibiotics and follow‑up — services that are already in short supply.

For families, the economic hit is immediate. With livelihoods halted, many households prioritise food and basic shelter over pest control. Small expenses — a packet of poison or a metal trap — are often beyond reach, creating a feedback loop: poverty reduces the ability to limit infestations, and infestations worsen health and sanitation, which further weakens livelihoods.

Humanitarian response and logistical limits

Humanitarian groups operating in Gaza face hard choices. They provide water, shelter materials and medical aid, but large‑scale pest control requires coordinated sanitation, waste management and specialised equipment — all of which depend on safe access, fuel and funding. With reconstruction stalled in many areas, short‑term fixes are often partial or temporary.

Relief agencies often focus on immediate needs: food distribution, emergency medical care and shelter repairs. Public‑health specialists say controlling rodent populations usually needs longer‑term interventions — clearing rubble, restoring sewage systems and organising community waste collection.

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“The situation is very frightening,” Samah al‑Dabla said, describing rats spreading across the hill behind her tent. Aid groups say the spread of rodents is adding pressure on Gaza’s fragile health system and complicating humanitarian operations.

This article was created with AI assistance.