DEIR EL-BALAH, Palestinian Territories: Wafaa Elwan’s five-year-old son cannot sleep in the Gaza tent city where she and her seven children shelter, but it is not the guns of war that cause his daily nightmare.
“My son can’t sleep through the night because he can’t stop scratching his body,” the anxious mother said.
The boy has white and red blotches over his feet and legs, and more under his T-shirt. He is one of many Gazans suffering from skin infections ranging from scabies to chicken pox, lice, impetigo and other debilitating rashes.
More than 150,000 people in the Palestinian territory have contracted skin diseases in the squalid conditions into which displaced Gazans have been forced since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, according to the World Health Organization.
“We sleep on the ground, on sand where worms come out underneath us,” said Elwan. Her family is one of thousands living on a sandy patch near the sea close to the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah.
Elwan believes infections are inevitable. “We cannot bathe our children as before. There are no hygiene and sanitary products for us to wash and clean the place. There’s nothing.”
Parents used to tell their children to wash in the Mediterranean. But pollution that has built up as war has devastated basic facilities has accentuated the risk of disease.
“The sea is all sewage. They even throw garbage and baby napkins into the sea,” she said.
The WHO has reported 96,417 cases of scabies and lice since the start of the war in Gaza, 9,274 cases of chickenpox, 60,130 cases of skin rashes and 10,038 impetigo cases.
Scabies and chickenpox are particularly widespread in the coastal Palestinian territory, according to Sami Hamid, a pharmacist who runs a makeshift clinic in the Deir Al-Balah camp.
Two boys in the clinic showed dozens of the distinctive chickenpox-induced blisters and scabs spread over their hands, feet, backs and stomachs.
Lacking medicines, Hamid, 43, himself displaced, rubbed a calamine lotion on the boys’ skin to soothe the itching.
Children’s skin suffers from “the hot weather and the lack of clean water,” he said.
Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, the medical coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said that children are vulnerable because “they are children — they play outside, they’ll touch anything, eat anything without washing it.”
Abu Mughaiseeb said hot weather increases the sweat and accumulation of dirt that causes rashes and allergies, which if scratched lead to infections.
“People are not living in houses anymore, there is no proper hygiene,” he said.
MSF doctors fear the appearance of other skin conditions such as leishmaniasis, which can be fatal in its most virulent form.
Gaza’s children are already highly vulnerable to disease, he said, because their immune systems are compromised by malnutrition.
Hamid, the pharmacist, said his team visited a makeshift school recently, where 24 out of 150 students had scabies.
“Some of them have developed skin infections, and unfortunately these infections are spreading among them,” Ola Al-Qula, a teacher at one makeshift tent school, said.
Other diseases have also rampaged through camps for the displaced, feeding on the poor hygiene, the WHO warned.
“The toilets here are primitive, draining into channels among tents, which ultimately contributes to the spread of epidemics,” said Hamid.
WHO said 485,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported.
The United Nations said Tuesday there are now 1.9 million people displaced in Gaza out of a population of some 2.4 million.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,925 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Dangerous skin diseases spreading among Gaza children
https://arab.news/mfk56
Dangerous skin diseases spreading among Gaza children
- More than 150,000 people in the Palestinian territory have contracted skin diseases in the squalid conditions into which displaced Gazans have been forced since since the Israel-Hamas war
Rats, dogs and torn clothes amid the ruins of Gaza homes
- Much of the rest of Gaza City also lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting
- Like many displaced Palestinians, Al-Harsh faces uncertainty as she tries to salvage what remains
JABALIA, Gaza: The rats and dogs scavenging amid the ruins of her neighborhood in northern Gaza make Manal Al-Harsh’s return to her wrecked home even more miserable.
Despite the respite from Israeli bombardments that a ceasefire has brought, she still fears for her family’s security. They have trouble sleeping at night.
Even trying to find her children’s clothes amid the rubble of their house in Jabalia is a forlorn task.
Al-Harsh, 36, has erected a makeshift tent from salvaged blankets to provide shelter for her and her children.
“We are staying here, but we are afraid of rats and everything around us. There are dogs. There is no place to settle. We have children. It is difficult,” Harsh, 36, said as she stepped cautiously over the debris.
She said she had returned from the south of the Palestinian enclave when the ceasefire took effect but found her house destroyed.
Much of the rest of Gaza City also lies in ruins after 15 months of fighting and waves of Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages that left it a shell of the bustling urban center it was before the war.
“We are practically sleeping here, but we don’t sleep. We are afraid someone might come upon us. We are sleeping and scared,” she said.
“I want to retrieve some clothes for the children to wear. We came with nothing. Life here is expensive, and there is no money to buy anything.”
Many of those returning, often laden with what personal possessions they still have after months of being moved around as the battlegrounds shifted, had trekked 20 km (12 miles) or more along the coastal highway north.
Like many displaced Palestinians, Al-Harsh faces uncertainty as she tries to salvage what remains. She had managed to pick some clothes from the rubble but they were in a sorry state.
“It’s all torn. Nothing is good. As much as we do, as much as we retrieve, it is all stones,” she said.
“Death is better,” Al-Harsh said, her voice heavy with despair.
Sudan paramilitary chief admits setbacks, vows to expel army from Khartoum
- Dagalo acknowledged setbacks in the capital but urged his troops “not to think of the army entering the General Command or the Signal Corps... “
- Two weeks before its gains in Khartoum the army reclaimed the Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani
PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, in a rare video address on Friday, acknowledged setbacks in the capital Khartoum but vowed to expel the army from the city again.
The war since April 2023 between Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million, according to the United Nations, and pushed millions to the brink of famine.
After months of apparent stalemate in Khartoum, the army one week ago broke an almost two-year RSF siege of its Khartoum General Command headquarters. On the same day, the army reported reclaiming its Signal Corps base in Khartoum North, and expelling the RSF from Jaili oil refinery north of Khartoum.
In his address on Friday, Dagalo — commonly known as Hemeti — acknowledged setbacks in the capital but urged his troops “not to think of the army entering the General Command or the Signal Corps... or taking control of Al-Jaili or Wad Madani.”
Two weeks before its gains in Khartoum the army reclaimed the Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, securing a key crossroads just south of the capital.
The RSF last week said army statements claiming they had broken the sieges and seized Jaili refinery were rumors intended to sway public opinion.
But on Friday, Dagalo promised his fighters that the army “will not enjoy the General Command for long, nor will they enjoy the Signal Corps.”
“We must think of what we intend to take,” he added.
Appearing behind a desk in military fatigues, with a camouflage scarf wrapped around his neck, the RSF leader said “we expelled them (from Khartoum), and we will expel them again.”
Dagalo has remained out of sight for most of the war, with his rare addresses usually delivered via voice message on social media.
His troops early in the war conquered much of Khartoum and pushed south. They still control almost all of Sudan’s vast western Darfur region.
Army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan — Dagalo’s former ally before they fell out in a power struggle — on Sunday visited his troops at the General Command, which is near central Khartoum and the airport.
His push into RSF-controlled Khartoum North, also known as Bahri, enabled the army’s biggest victory since it regained Omdurman, the third district of the capital, around a year ago.
According to an army source, who was not authorized to speak to the media, fighting continued Friday for the Kafouri neighborhood in eastern Bahri.
This month, the United States sanctioned both Hemeti and Burhan, accusing the former of genocide and the latter of attacking schools, markets and hospitals, as well as using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
Istanbul opposition mayor slams ‘judicial harassment’
- Ekrem Imamoglu: ‘We are experiencing the highest level of judicial harassment in Istanbul’
- He is accused of threatening, insulting and targeting an official and attempting to influence fair trial
ISTANBUL: Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, condemned on Friday what he described as “judicial harassment” targeting him, as thousands of supporters demanded justice outside the court.
Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, spoke after giving a statement in connection with two investigations opened against him earlier this month.
He is also fighting several other legal cases.
“We are experiencing the highest level of judicial harassment in Istanbul,” he told the crowds, standing on the roof of a bus after leaving Istanbul’s Caglayan court.
Imamoglu, who belongs to the main opposition CHP party and was re-elected mayor last year, vowed not to give up.
“We will keep on fighting against injustice,” he said.
His statement on Friday was in connection with two investigations into remarks he made about Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor and about a court-appointed expert witness involved in cases against CHP-run local councils.
He is accused of threatening, insulting and targeting an official and attempting to influence fair trial.
In his statement to the prosecutor, a copy of which was seen by AFP, Imamoglu denied all the allegations, saying he was simply exercising his right to free speech.
“There was no threat or targeting in my words. What I said was freedom of expression,” he said.
“Freedom of expression is a constitutional right… (which) includes the right to criticize judicial authorities and the way they function,” he said.
Addressing the huge crowd, Imamoglu said there was a “conspiracy” against him.
Ankara’s opposition mayor Mansur Yavas, who was there to support him, accused the government of turning Turkiye into an “open prison.”
Turkish authorities regularly target journalists, lawyers and elected political representatives, especially since the failed 2016 coup.
An Istanbul court on Thursday ordered the arrest of an opposition TV journalist for broadcasting an interview the authorities allege was conducted without the consent of the interviewee — none other than the court-appointed expert Imamoglu had criticized.
Among the crowd, some supporters wore Imamoglu face masks while others waved banners. There was a significant police presence.
“The government is trying to limit the space for opponents, including journalists, and intimidate them with unfair accusations,” said Fethi Kocaer, 71, holding a banner reading: “We will fight together.”
“Mayor Imamoglu’s courage and strong stance will help unite us. We will not give up but will step up the fight against injustice,” he said.
Fevziye Yalcin, 57, said the cases against Imamoglu were meaningless.
“It just makes us even stronger in our desire to fight them. We will hold the government to account at the ballot box,” she said defiantly.
“Imamoglu will never walk alone.”
EU restarts Rafah border crossing mission, says foreign policy chief Kallas
- ‘The EU’s civilian border mission deploys today to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis’
- The crossing would now be run by members of the Palestinian Authority and European monitors
BRUSSELS: The European Union has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, a key entry and exit point for the Palestinian territory, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday.
Kallas announced on Monday that there was broad agreement among member states’ foreign ministers that the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) could play a “decisive role” in supporting the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas group that administers Gaza.
“The EU’s civilian border mission deploys today to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis. It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care,” she posted on X.
Palestinian and Hamas officials said the crossing would now be run by members of the Palestinian Authority and European monitors.
It will be opened for 50 injured militants and 50 wounded civilians, along with individuals escorting them, according to the officials, who said a further 100 people, most likely students, would be allowed through on humanitarian grounds.
A civilian EU mission to help monitor the crossing began work in 2005 but was suspended in June 2007 as a result of Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip.
In its standby mode, the mission had 10 international and eight local staff.
Italy has said it will send seven paramilitary Carabinieri officers to join the Rafah mission in addition to two Italians already there, while Germany’s interior and foreign ministries are discussing sending a German contingent.
Any forced halt of UNRWA’s work would jeopardize Gaza ceasefire, agency says
- For now, its work in Gaza and elsewhere continues despite an Israeli ban that was due to take effect on Jan. 30
GENEVA: The UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said on Friday that if its humanitarian work in Gaza is forced to halt, it would put a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas at risk.
The agreement has paused a 15-month-old war between Israel and Gaza’s rulers Hamas that has decimated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destabilized the Middle East.
The deal has allowed for a surge in humanitarian aid and enabled the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails.
“If UNRWA is not allowed to continue to bring and distribute supplies, then the fate of this very fragile ceasefire is going to be at risk and is going to be in jeopardy,” Juliette Touma, director of communications of UNRWA, told a Geneva press briefing.
For now, its work in Gaza and elsewhere continues despite an Israeli ban that was due to take effect on Jan. 30, she added.
However, she said that its Palestinian staff located in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are facing difficulties, citing examples of stone-throwing and hold-ups at checkpoints.
“They face an exceptionally hostile environment as a fierce disinformation campaign against UNRWA continues,” she said.
