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xGaza: Two in three children at risk of infection due to plague of rats and pests
Date: 22nd May 2026
Category:
Armed conflict, Health and health services
Save the Children reports that two in three children in Gaza are now living in displacement sites overrun by rats, mice and insects, as rising temperatures and overflowing waste fuel a surge in disease‑carrying pests.
More than 80% of assessed sites show frequent rodent or pest activity, with skin infections, lice and bedbugs widespread among families forced to live in overcrowded tents.
With Gaza’s sanitation, water and healthcare systems decimated by years of conflict, rodents are chewing through tents, contaminating food supplies, and in some cases biting children as they sleep, leaving families terrified. Aid blockages have made pesticides nearly impossible to obtain, pushing families to rely on ineffective homemade traps.
Children are the most at risk. Save the Children warns that infants, malnourished children and those living in the most crowded camps face heightened risks of scabies, pneumonia, diarrhoea and other fast‑spreading infections.
One Gaza‑based staff member described seeing rats, rubbish and sewage everywhere, calling the conditions “no way to live a dignified life” and warning that the crisis will worsen as temperatures rise