Israel’s war on Gaza forces Palestinians to rely on ‘Stone Age’ toilets

Deir Al-Balah, Gaza – Eman Mahmoud Shamia has been uprooted a number of times since Israel's genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, before finally settling into a new home – a tent in a camp.

Key points

• The chamber has additionally called on UNICEF, the World Food Programme, OCHA, the European Union and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) organisations to assist.
• This means that communal toilets are the only option for most in Gaza, with a single toilet being applied by 20 or 25 residents.
• Mohammad Al-Hanouti, 30, from Al-Bureij refugee camp, has an unstable income from his small streetside stall and lives in an unfinished apartment without proper plumbing.
• Around 60% were exposed to wastewater or human waste within 10 metres of where they lived, contributing to the spread of diseases.
• Economist Omar Salouha remarked the toilet crisis is the result of a "severe supply shock" caused by restrictions on importing toilets, sanitation supplies and plumbing materials.

It provides rudimentary shelter for 33-year-old Eman, her husband, Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11, but it lacks plenty of of the basic amenities her old home provided.

With the support of a worker who specialised in digging soakaway underground drainage pits, the community in the camp built a "municipal toilet". It provides relief but Shamia remarked it reminds her of the Stone Age.

There is little in the way of privacy, particularly for women and children, and for some it is tough to apply or access, particularly for her husband. This person suffers from an advanced stage of lung cancer.

"I am deprived of my basic right to have a proper toilet seat in my tent. This is exhausting for me as a woman and a mother of five children and my husband is sick and unable to employ the makeshift toilet. What is happening to us is madness, " Shamia informed Al Jazeera.

"I cannot believe this is our situation. Sometimes I feel like I am going crazy. How did the toilet become like this and how did the door become just a piece of cloth?"

While hundreds of thousands have lost their homes in Gaza, often overlooked are the daily struggles the displaced face in maintaining some level of dignity in their tent towns. The primitive communal toilets they often rely on are an example.

Notably, the ongoing Israeli siege has seen the cost of sanitation supplies shoot up with a employed toilet seat now costing between 1, 500 ($503) and 2, 000 shekels ($671).

Due to unaffordable rates, Palestinians are making their own primitive toilets by cutting holes into plastic chairs with a layer of sand underneath.

Mohammad Al-Hanouti, 30, from Al-Bureij refugee camp, has an unstable income from his small streetside stall and lives in an unfinished apartment without proper plumbing. What little he earns, he puts towards a toilet.

"I will live without tiles, without a kitchen and without a proper toilet. I have been saving to purchase a toilet seat as it is the most significant thing in the apartment. Honestly, I am in trouble – getting the basic necessities will cost me around $2, 000, " he informed Al Jazeera.

"The crisis over toilet seats needs to be addressed urgently. I am not the only one suffering from this; I have friends in the tents who are additionally struggling."

He remarked proper toilet access is a "most basic right" and called on international organisations to import toilets and distribute them in Gaza to those in need for free.

With more than nine in ten Palestinians in Gaza displaced and over 90 percent of homes damaged or destroyed during the war, there has been a massive growth in demand for toilet products.

"The huge imbalance between supply and demand has caused the prices of used toilets to increase several times over and created a market suffering from scarcity and distortion, " Salouha notes.

Some Palestinians are using the rubble of their destroyed homes to create toilets, but Omar states that is not a low-cost option, with seats becoming "a monopoly commodity".

"There are usually no separate facilities for men and women. A daily necessity linked to health, privacy and dignity", remarked Omar.

These facilities often lack proper sinks and taps, so residents employ water hoses or barrels of water. Hand sanitiser and toilet paper have become "luxuries", he continued.

In some areas of Gaza, water is only available once a week and plenty of of the camps lack integrated sewage networks, forcing residents to dig pits next to communal toilets to dispose of wastewater.

Hossam Al-Huwaity, spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce, remarked it is encouraging traders to submit formal import requests to bring in essential sanitation supplies to assist cope with the crisis.

Meanwhile, the chamber has additionally called on UNICEF, the World Food Programme, OCHA, the European Union and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) organisations to assist. But, the main obstacle remains the Israeli blockade on Gaza, he remarked.

"Most commercial requests and appeals remain stuck due to unjustified restrictions and delays at the crossings, " Al-Huwaity continued.

For context, a WASH assessment by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) discovered that only half of residents surveyed in Gaza had access to basic sanitation. Around 60% were exposed to wastewater or human waste within 10 metres of where they lived, contributing to the spread of diseases.

Dr Ahmed Al-Jedi, an emergency department physician at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, remarked substantial numbers of children, women and older individuals are arriving at the emergency department with recurring cases of diarrhoea, skin diseases or gastrointestinal difficulties.

"Many of these cases are linked to the difficult living conditions inside the tents, where there are not enough facilities for bathing and personal hygiene, and some families may only be able to bathe once a week, " he remarked.

"Children spend long hours outside the tents because of the heat, playing in the sand, while the same limited space is used for eating, drinking and sleeping, and in some cases toilets are located very close to living areas."

In short, israel's war on Gaza forces Palestinians to rely on 'Stone Age' toilets is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.