Due to Israel's seige, Gaza's women are forced to use sand to clean their children

The markets in the Gaza Strip are experiencing a severe and unprecedented shortage of cleaning and hygiene products. What is found is priced unreasonably high, sometimes reaching more than 20 times its worth. 

The ongoing Israeli closure of all crossings leading to the Gaza Strip since the beginning of its war in October has induced several crises for Gaza's people, impacting basic needs, most notably food, water, electricity, medicine, medical supplies, as well as sanitary and cleaning products.

Israel's complete control over the Rafah crossing has simply exacerbated the crises in the Gaza Strip. 

Om Falah, a displaced Palestinian woman, was unable to buy any of the personal hygiene detergents in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip due to their exorbitant prices.

"To buy a half of litter of liquid soap (locally made), I need US$20 and I only have three dollars to spend [...] Day after day, the situation becomes tragic for us; no one can bear it," she said to The New Arab. 

"I haven't been able to bathe my children for more than a week because of the lack of soap and shampoo. They now have skin infections and diseases. I can't leave them like this for a long time because the diseases will kill them sooner or later," she added.

Om Falah is forced to resort to rubbing her children's bodies with sand before bathing them with seawater to help get rid of the dirt on their bodies. "This is an old custom that people used to use to get rid of dirt from their bodies, and then they would bathe with water," she explained. 

But Om Falah notes that the sand itself is polluted, especially since people are sheltered in tents, which means some have to relieve themselves on the sand. But there are no other options for Palestinians in Gaza. 

For her part, Hanan Harb from Gaza City, currently lives in a tent in Mawasi Khan Yunis. "The war has taken away all possible options from us, so we are forced to deal with what we have available to us and nothing else," the 35-year-old mother of three said to TNA. 

Similar to Om Falah, Hanan also rubs her children's bodies with sand, hoping to alleviate and protect them from the skin diseases they suffered from for weeks.

"I used to die a hundred times a day when I saw my child screaming in pain because of the smallpox he had. I couldn't do anything for him [...] After he recovered, I decided not to leave him again prey to skin diseases, and this is what prompted me to use sand instead of personal detergents," she said. 

The same reason prompted Ibtisam al-Sayyid from the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip to use sand as a means of cleaning cooking utensils, due to the general lack of soap and cleaning products.

"After the soap started to run out, I rationed the use of the cleaning materials to extend their lifespan as long as possible [...] But now I no longer have anything I can use, and I don't have enough money to buy soap if it is available in the markets," she said. 

According to the Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza, a large amount of the 1.9 million displaced in the Gaza Strip are suffering from various forms of infectious diseases due to their displacement by Israel's attacks.

UN and medical organisations in Gaza also noted that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians suffer from numerous skin diseases, arising from the lack of personal hygiene, water, and cleaning products.

"The waste is accumulating throughout the Gaza Strip and mosquitoes, flies, and rats are spreading, along with diseases and epidemics," the UNRWA said in a recent press statement. 

UNRWA also drew attention to the fact that the lack of proper sanitation is worsening conditions.

Dermatologist and cosmetologist Nazir Abu Rahma told TNA that the crisis related to the shortage of cleaning materials has caused a major crisis, especially for women, including the spread of "eczema" (a condition that causes dry, itchy and inflamed skin) has spread, due to the unsafe use of locally manufactured cleaning materials whose composition is unknown.

"The noticeable spread of lice during the current period due to the lack of water and the difficulty of bathing in shelter tents, as well as the spread of fungi due to the intense heat and high humidity inside the tents," Abu Rahma noted.

Local workers in the cleaning materials industry confirm that the lack of raw materials prevents local manufacturing in sufficient quantities.

Until Israel's siege ends, the people of Gaza are forced to search for alternatives to stay clean, whether sand, leaves, or lemons (if available).

Israel's war on Gaza has directly killed almost 39,000 people, mainly women and children, while a recent Lancet report states that about 186,000 people of have died directly and indirectly.