Skin diseases are running rampant in Gaza, health officials say, from appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israel’s bombardment now entering its 10th month, Al Jazeera reports.

Palestinians have no soap to wash themselves, their children or their clothes during the summer heat, a report by the AP said. According to the UN, the sanitation system has collapsed amid Israel’s bombardment and offensives.

The World Health Organisation has reported more than 160,00 cases of lice, scabies and skin rashes. At one hospital, doctors report hundreds of skin disease cases a day, including a steady stream of children, covered in spots, scabs, rashes and lesions that turn into worse infections.

Cleanliness is impossible in the ramshackle tents, basically wood frames hung with blankets or plastic sheets, crammed side by side over wide stretches.

People have to wear the same clothes day after day until they’re able to wash them, then they wear them again immediately. Flies are everywhere. Children play in garbage-strewn sand.

Opinion

Editorial

Token austerity
Updated 11 Mar, 2026

Token austerity

The ‘austerity’ measures are a ritualistic response to public anger rather than a sincere attempt to reform state spending.
Lebanon on fire
11 Mar, 2026

Lebanon on fire

WHILE the entire Gulf region has become an active warzone, repercussions of this conflict have spread to the...
Canine crisis
11 Mar, 2026

Canine crisis

KARACHI’S stray dog crisis requires urgent attention. Feral canines can cause serious and lasting physical and...
Iran’s new leader
Updated 10 Mar, 2026

Iran’s new leader

The position is the most powerful in Iran, bringing together clerical authority and political and ideological leadership.
National priorities
10 Mar, 2026

National priorities

EVEN as the country faces heightened risks of attacks from actual terrorists, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi...
Silenced march
10 Mar, 2026

Silenced march

ON the eve of International Women’s Day, Islamabad Police detained dozens of Aurat March activists who had ...