The stench of decay engulfs the area long before the sight of the makeshift tents comes into view. In al-Taawun camp, squeezed between Yarmouk Stadium and al-Sahaba Street in central Gaza City, the boundary between human life and waste has vanished entirely.

Driven from their homes by the Israeli regime’s genocidal war on Gaza, 765 families now reside in flimsy shelters erected directly on and beside a massive solid waste dump. Here, they face a daily struggle against disease, vermin, and the psychological torment of living in squalor.

Fayez al-Jadi, a father displaced a staggering 12 times since the war began, described conditions that have robbed them of their basic humanity.

“The rats gnaw at our tents from below,” al-Jadi told Al Jazeera. “They crawl over our faces as we sleep. My 18-month-old daughter had a rat run across her face. Every day, she suffers from gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhea, or malnutrition.”

His demand is not for luxury—just 40 to 50 meters of clean ground to live on. “We want to live like human beings,” he pleaded.

The camp’s unsanitary conditions have triggered an epidemic of skin infections among its 4,000 residents. With no running water or sewage infrastructure, scabies has spread uncontrollably.

Fares Jamal Sobh, a six-month-old infant, spends his nights in agony. His mother pointed to the inflamed rashes covering his tiny body. “He can’t sleep because of the itching,” she said. “We wake up to find cockroaches and mosquitoes on him. We bring medicine, but it does nothing—because we are living on trash.”

Um Hamza, a grandmother caring for a blind husband and an asthmatic son, said shame has become irrelevant in their suffering. “We’ve stopped hiding that my daughter is covered in scabies,” she admitted. “We’ve used five or six bottles of ointment, but nothing works.”

The collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system has left them abandoned. “Hospitals like al-Ahli turn us away. They write prescriptions, but there’s no medicine left to buy,” she said.

The crisis in al-Taawun mirrors Gaza City’s broader collapse. Hamada Abu Laila, a university lecturer helping manage the camp, warned of an “environmental catastrophe”—fueled by the absence of sewage systems and clean water.

But the disaster is not accidental. According to Husni Muhanna, spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality, the Israeli regime has deliberately blocked access to the Strip’s main landfill, forcing hazardous dumps into populated areas like Yarmouk and the historic Firas Market.

“Over 350,000 tonnes of solid waste are piling up in Gaza City alone,” Muhanna told Al Jazeera in January.

He explained that the municipality is crippled by “a complex set of obstacles”—destroyed equipment, severe fuel shortages, and constant threats from Israeli forces. With only primitive tools at their disposal, authorities can no longer manage waste safely, leaving thousands to sleep on a toxic wasteland.

The dangers extend beyond disease. Rizq Abu Laila, displaced from Beit Lahiya, lives with his family next to an unexploded tank shell buried in the trash. “We live beside a dump filled with snakes and stray cats,” he said, gesturing toward the ordnance. “This shell could explode at any moment under the sun’s heat. Where do we take our children?”

His daughter, Shahd, lives in terror of the wild dogs that prowl the dump at night. “I’m afraid of the dogs because they bark,” she whispered.

Widad Sobh, another resident, described the nights as a living nightmare. “The dogs slam against the tent. They want to attack. I stay awake all night driving them away,” she said.

For Um Hamza, the struggle has become unbearable. “By God, we eat bread only after the rats have touched it,” she said, voice breaking. “All we ask is for a place—any place—away from this filth.”

The Israeli regime’s blockade has turned Gaza into an open-air prison of waste and suffering. With no end in sight, the displaced are left to endure a reality no human should face—abandoned, starving, and surrounded by the remnants of war.