Gaza war leaves Palestinians relying on makeshift toilets amid soaring prices
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Displaced Palestinians in Gaza are building makeshift toilets from plastic chairs and sand as the Israeli siege drives sanitation prices beyond reach. A used toilet seat now costs between 1,500 and 2,000 shekels ($503–$671), forcing families to improvise. The crisis compounds the daily struggle for dignity in tent camps, where communal facilities offer little privacy for women and children.
Key Facts
- A used toilet seat in Gaza now costs between 1,500 and 2,000 shekels ($503–$671) due to the Israeli siege.
- Eman Mahmoud Shamia, 33, lives in a tent in Deir Al-Balah with her husband Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11.
- Mohammad Al-Hanouti, 30, from Al-Bureij refugee camp, says getting basic necessities for his unfinished apartment will cost around $2,000.
- Displaced Palestinians are making primitive toilets by cutting holes into plastic chairs with a layer of sand underneath.
Makeshift Sanitation
Eman Mahmoud Shamia, 33, has been uprooted several times since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023 before settling into a tent in Deir Al-Balah. The tent provides rudimentary shelter for Shamia, her husband Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11, but lacks basic amenities. With the help of a worker who specialised in digging soakaway underground drainage pits, the community built a 'municipal toilet' that Shamia says reminds her of the Stone Age. There is little privacy, particularly for women and children, and the facility is difficult for her husband to use because he suffers from an advanced stage of lung cancer.
Rising Costs
The ongoing Israeli siege has driven up the price of sanitation supplies, with a used toilet seat now costing between 1,500 and 2,000 shekels ($503–$671). Because prices are unaffordable, 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. Al-Hanouti says he has been saving to buy a toilet seat because it is the most important thing in the apartment, and getting basic necessities will cost him around $2,000.
1 source
Gaza war leaves Palestinians relying on makeshift toilets amid soaring prices
