As Palestinians look for shelter, some pitch their tents next to landfill in Gaza City

Sara Jabakhanji · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 3:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Palestinians successful Gaza accidental they person obscurity to spell arsenic Israel's renewed violative forces thousands to permission their homes and erstwhile again look displacement successful the war-ravaged territory.

Some Palestinians pitched their tents adjacent to mounds of garbage astatine a landfill adjacent the Yarmouk Stadium successful Gaza City aft being ordered by the Israeli service to evacuate the northbound and caput toward the south.

Holding an bare h2o jug successful hand, Widad Sobh said she ended up successful Yarmouk Stadium on with her household aft being forced to evacuate Beit Lahiya this week amid the renewed Israeli warring and crushed invasion. 

"We can't find a spot to go," the 47-year-old told CBC News connected Friday. "This is the spot I recovered and I stayed here, wherever should I go?"

"It's each garbage. We came to garbage, and the h2o isn't clean," said Sobh.

Sabah Marouf, 50, said she was besides displaced from Beit Lahiya after fleeing the bombardment, and ended up astatine the erstwhile shot stadium present overflowing with waste.

"We can't find anyone to assistance america oregon anyone to adjacent look astatine america successful the face," Marouf told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.

"We're adjacent to the garbage and the odor is sidesplitting us, and the ungraded is sidesplitting us."

"When it rains our mats and blankets are each h2o … we were drowning successful h2o here," Maazouza Fathi Sobh said.

The 48-year-old grandmother said she and her grandchildren are sick from being truthful adjacent to the landfill and not having due structure from the elements, which premix with the discarded and travel into the tents.

"It seeps into our mats and connected america and we aftermath up uncovering ourselves soaked successful the [garbage] water," she said. Children successful the country plugged their noses arsenic the landfill odour wafted through the area.

A fragile ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas collapsed earlier this week, arsenic Israel's renewed violative has killed much than 600 Palestinians successful Gaza since Tuesday.

Shadi Al-Ashqar, a nonmigratory from the bluish Gaza municipality of Beit Lahiya, fled connected ft toward the south with his woman and children — erstwhile again not knowing wherever to find shelter.

"We were settled successful our homes adjacent with each of the demolition surrounding america but we accepted it and made bash with what we could," Al-Ashqar told El Saife connected Friday.

"We're scrambling now, I don't cognize wherever to go."

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said connected Friday that the service is exerting each disposable unit connected Hamas to merchandise remaining hostages, including evacuating Gazans to the southbound and implementing U.S. President Donald Trump's resettlement plan. In February, Trump called the enclave a "demolition site," saying he wants the U.S. take ownership of the onshore and physique it into the "Riviera of the Middle East," erstwhile helium empties it of the Palestinians.

Katz said Friday the longer Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages, "the much territory it volition suffer to Israel."

Israeli forces person re-taken portion of the Netzarim corridor that divides the northbound and the southbound of Gaza. It besides resumed enforcing a blockade connected bluish Gaza including Gaza City aft advancing Thursday toward the bluish municipality of Beit Lahiya and the confederate borderline metropolis of Rafah.

Meanwhile, a blockade connected the introduction of goods into Gaza has been successful spot since March 2, leading to a hike successful prices of indispensable foods arsenic good arsenic fuel, forcing galore to ration their meals. It besides chopped disconnected its energy proviso to Gaza, slashing operations astatine a h2o desalination works that provides cleanable drinking h2o to Palestinians.

"There is nary food. They starve us, they displace us, they adjacent the borderline crossings connected us," said Umm Mahmoud Ghazal as she fled bluish Gaza Thursday.

"On apical of each of that, they are bombing america each night," she said.

Much of the infrastructure and lodging crossed the Gaza Strip — which is astir 41 kilometres agelong and 10 kilometres wide — has been destroyed by Israeli bombardment. 

The bulk of Gaza's colonisation has been displaced wrong the enclave multiple times successful the 17-month agelong war. 

Late connected Thursday, Israel's subject said it had begun crushed operations successful the Shaboura territory of Gaza's southernmost metropolis Rafah, which abuts the Egyptian border.

"War is back, displacement and decease are back, volition we past this round?" said Samed Sami, 29, who fled Shejaia to enactment up a structure for his household successful a campy connected unfastened ground.

Thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israeli communities connected Oct. 7, 2023, sidesplitting immoderate 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and abducting 251 hostages into Gaza. Fifty-nine hostages are inactive being held successful Gaza, with 24 of them believed to beryllium alive. 

The Israeli run successful effect has killed much than 49,000 people, according to Palestinian wellness authorities, with thousands much believed to inactive beryllium nether the rubble.