In Gaza’s shattered streets, amid the rubble of war and makeshift tents, a new crisis quietly poisons the air: mountains of rotting waste smouldering under the sun. As Israel’s blockade prevents access to major landfill sites and cripples municipal infrastructure, residents are left with no choice but to burn their rubbish, trading one disaster for another.

Over 175,000 tonnes of garbage now suffocate Gaza City alone, with 600 more added daily. Across the Strip, waste piles mix with 50 million tonnes of debris from relentless bombardments. Without functioning equipment or safe passage to landfill zones, entire neighbourhoods have become dumping grounds. In the markets of Firas or the alleys of Yarmouk, trash burns beside tents housing the displaced, releasing toxic smoke that seeps into homes and lungs.

The cost is devastating. Doctors and environmental experts warn of rising respiratory illnesses, outbreaks of disease, and infestations of rats and insects. Burning plastic contaminates the soil and groundwater, threatening what remains of Gaza’s fragile agriculture. The stench clings to everything—clothes, bedding, and breath.

For families like Abu Abdullah’s, living near Firas Market, the smoke is inescapable. “At first, we thought it was another airstrike,” he says. “But it was just another sign of the war—silent, but deadly.” As summer approaches, the air thickens, and with it, the risk of an even deeper collapse.

This is not merely a waste crisis—it is a form of environmental warfare. The people of Gaza are being suffocated, not just by bombs, but by the slow decay of everything that once sustained life.