Displaced families in Deir al-Balah face acute shortages of water and food

In the central Gaza Strip, hundreds of displaced Palestinian families sheltering in Deir al-Balah are enduring a severe scarcity of water and food, with many describing conditions that have not improved despite ongoing international attention.

Residents queue for hours each day at water trucks, carrying whatever containers they can find. Adeep Al Nimir, displaced from Beit Lahiya, walked barefoot with dented jerrycans to fill for his extended family of 15, all of whom share a single tent. "Life has become very difficult," he said. "We are sick of living in tents."

Nasser Ghabin, a father of five displaced from Deir al-Balah, said his family receives water only once a day. He lacks a proper storage tank, leaving him with a small amount for seven people. "Nothing has improved," he said, expressing exhaustion with the prolonged displacement.

Food supplies are equally strained. Amal Abu Samra, also from Beit Lahiya, said charity kitchens that once operated have largely disappeared. "Hunger has killed us and there is no income," she said, noting that her family survives on lentils and rice from occasional aid boxes. She described children scavenging in garbage dumps for materials to light fires and families wearing worn-out clothes.

Dalia Khriwat, a mother of eight displaced from Beit Hanoun, was cooking fried eggplants over an open fire inside her tent. She said people want meat or chicken but find nothing. "We are suffering from everything," she said, adding that fetching water requires a one-kilometre walk. Her tent's tarps are worn out and her makeshift bathroom is badly damaged.

The accounts from Deir al-Balah paint a picture of daily survival marked by inadequate shelter, limited aid, and a persistent lack of basic necessities.