Families displaced by the war in Gaza say they are facing a growing public health crisis as rats, urban weasels and other pests overrun their camps. Parents describe staying awake at night to guard their children after multiple reports of animals biting infants, the elderly and the sick. In one case, a four-year-old girl was left bleeding after a weasel attacked her while she slept.

Aid agencies report that rodents or pests are visible in the vast majority of displacement sites, affecting around 1.45 million people. With sewage flowing through overcrowded camps and large piles of uncollected rubbish nearby, living conditions have created ideal breeding grounds for animals and insects that can spread respiratory illnesses, skin diseases and infections.

More than six months after a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States, reconstruction has not begun and hundreds of thousands of temporary shelters promised to residents have not arrived. Humanitarian workers say large-scale waste removal, drainage repairs and sanitation upgrades are urgently needed, but access restrictions and a lack of equipment have slowed progress.

As warmer weather approaches, residents fear infestations will worsen. Many say the constant threat from pests, combined with ongoing insecurity and destruction, has made daily life increasingly unbearable.