Israel’s war on Gaza forces Palestinians to rely on ‘Stone Age’ toilets
Deir Al-Balah, Gaza – Eman Mahmoud Shamia has been uprooted several times since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, before finally settling into a new home – a tent in a camp. It provides rudimentary shelter for 33-year-old Eman, her husband, Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11, but it lacks many of the basic amenities her old home provided.

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Key Facts
- Fact 1: Deir Al-Balah, Gaza – Eman Mahmoud Shamia has been uprooted several times since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, before finally settling into a new home – a tent in a camp.
- Fact 2: It provides rudimentary shelter for 33-year-old Eman, her husband, Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11, but it lacks many of the basic amenities her old home provided.
- Fact 3: Israeli army and settlers injure several Palestinians across West Bank Israeli wounded in occupied West Bank stabbing Where water conflicts pose the biggest threat in 2026 Israeli air strike near Gaza refugee camp kills one person and injures two With the help of a worker who specialised in digging soakaway underground drainage pits, the community in the camp built a “municipal toilet”.
- Fact 4: [Eman Abu Zayed/Al Jazeera]The ongoing Israeli siege has seen the price of sanitation supplies shoot up with a used toilet seat now costing between 1,500 ($503) and 2,000 shekels ($671).
Deir Al-Balah, Gaza – Eman Mahmoud Shamia has been uprooted several times since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, before finally settling into a new home – a tent in a camp. It provides rudimentary shelter for 33-year-old Eman, her husband, Yahya Shamia, 50, and their five children, all under 11, but it lacks many of the basic amenities her old home provided.
Israeli army and settlers injure several Palestinians across West Bank Israeli wounded in occupied West Bank stabbing Where water conflicts pose the biggest threat in 2026 Israeli air strike near Gaza refugee camp kills one person and injures two With the help 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 said 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 difficult to use or access, particularly for her husband, who suffers from an advanced stage of lung cancer.
(Original synthesis pending human/AI review — generated by the stub provider by selecting real sentences from the source material, not by writing new analysis or commentary.)
Original source: Al Jazeera
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