‘There is a diaper crisis in Gaza’: Palestinian mothers cannot get diapers for their children
In her tent made of blankets, tiles and wood, Asala Shehata, 32, lays her three-year-old daughter Heba down on a mat to change her nappy. What was a simple plan has turned into a complex task, another aspect of life that has changed during the year of war in Gaza.
He first tied a towel around the child’s waist with a plastic wrap. Then he puts a diaper on Heba. This way, he can wash and reuse the diaper for several weeks, because it is less soiled.
The cost of diapers has increased — that’s when they are available when a mother of four goes out to buy them. A pack of 30, which once cost 13 shekels ($5 Cdn), can now run 70 shekels ($28 Cdn), an increase of more than 400 percent.
The Israeli government says it has been given the green light to allow aid trucks into the area, but says much of the aid is being looted before it reaches the people it is meant to help. Last week, UNRWA also suspended aid shipments to Gaza after more trucks arrived robbed.
But that leaves mothers like Shehata, who lives in Khan Younis on what used to be the Al-Aqsa University campus, desperate for diapers, and having to turn to other options as they wait for supplies to arrive.
“We buy a diaper, we keep it and wash it for maybe two weeks until it breaks down,” Shehata told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.
“Diapers are very expensive and in short supply on the market.”
He waits for diapers all day
It’s midday at the Al-Buhaisi mall in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and a large crowd has gathered, pushing each other to reach the shop window.
People have pink bags up their arms – the lucky ones who managed to win a few nappies for their children this time.
Umm Aseel, 55, was in line since 8 am, but she could not buy diapers for her grandchildren. Their father, her son, has been in prison for 17 years, leaving him and the children’s mother to look after the four twins.
“I sold their mother’s bracelets to buy them diapers … and I still haven’t received them,” he told El Saife.
In a report published on DecemberUNICEF said children in Gaza are facing a “deep crisis” as access to essential goods and services continues to dwindle.
“The daily things that parents need for their children to live well are not available or are too expensive for families to afford,” it reads.
More than 14 months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza is being illegally invaded and aid agencies say the collapse threatens the survival of up to two million people.
While the Rafah border crossing with Egypt remains closed, the only way for aid to enter is the Kerem Shalom border, which connects Gaza with Israel and Egypt.
But the problems at the border crossing, accompanied by pictures of trucks lined up ready to cross with the help of international organizations, have caused an uproar in the international community. Earlier, Israel said that Hamas was stealing aid, while the group said that Israel was deliberately stopping it at the border.
Now, as the war drags into its second year, and Hamas loses its territorial control, lawlessness it has taken. Thieves and gangs target aid trucks and sell many of those items to people in need, which in turn increases costs.
Truck drivers told El Saife in early December that as they were crossing the Kerem Shalom border, bandits were shooting at their trucks, targeting their tires and windshields, sometimes forcing the drivers to go to undisclosed locations to unload their cargo rather than international organizations’ warehouses.
Hala Abdel Ghani, 34, was also in line all day for diapers at the mall and left empty-handed.
“I want to leave but I can’t because I haven’t found anything about my son,” he told El Saife. “There’s a diaper problem.”
Abdel Ghani says he runs through a pack of diapers a day for his three-year-old son, who has liver problems. Their rising costs make them difficult to obtain, and even more difficult to maintain a supply.
Israel’s war with Hamas began after an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct.7 killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s response to Gaza has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Used diapers cause rashes, sores
Back at her tent in Khan Younis, Shehata puts diapers in the sink and some laundry. With soap, he first cleans the diaper and hangs it on the line between the tents.
“The children had bruises, they did not accept, they were infected, they had sores,” she said. “They have been exposed to a lot but I am trying in every way to kill the bacteria in the area.”
Nearby, little Heba is walking with a smile and a baby bottle of water in her hand. His mother has changed him into a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and tied his hair in pigtails. On the outside, the child seems to be living a normal life – not knowing what his mother is going through to ensure something as simple as a diaper for him.
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