More than 4,000 Palestinians are forced to live amidst trash in the al-Taawun camp in Gaza. This camp lies between Yarmouk Stadium and al-Sahaba Street in central Gaza City. The families fled their homes due to war. They now live on and near a massive solid waste dump. The smell hits before you see the tents. People here battle skin diseases, pests, and psychological trauma. Father Fayez al-Jadi has been displaced 12 times since the war began. He said, "The rats eat the tents from underneath. They walk on our faces while we sleep. My daughter is 18 months old. A rat ran right over her face. Every day, she has gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhoea or malnutrition." He said they only want 40 to 50 metres of clean space to live in. "We want to live like human beings." The camp has no clean water or sewage. Skin infections like scabies have spread fast. Six-month-old Fares Jamal Sobh cries from itching caused by rashes. His mother said, "He doesn’t sleep at night because of the itching. We wake up to find cockroaches and mosquitoes on him. We bring medicine, but it’s useless because we are living on trash." Grandmother Um Hamza cares for her family including a blind husband and an asthmatic son. She said, "We’ve stopped being ashamed to say my daughter is covered in scabies. We’ve used five or six bottles of ointment, but it’s in vain." Gaza’s hospitals are overwhelmed. "They write us a prescription and tell us to go buy it, but there is no medicine to buy," she added. The waste crisis is citywide. Hamada Abu Laila, a university lecturer and camp administrator, warned of an "environmental catastrophe" due to lack of sewage and clean water. Gaza Municipality spokesperson Husni Muhanna said the problem is man-made. Israeli forces block access to Gaza’s main landfill. This forces hazardous temporary dumps in areas like Yarmouk and Firas Market. Muhanna said, "More than 350,000 tonnes of solid waste are piling up inside Gaza City alone." Rizq Abu Laila lives next to an unexploded tank shell under and among the rubbish. "This is an unexploded shell right next to the tents. With the heat of the sun, it could explode at any moment. Where are we supposed to go with our children?" he asked. His daughter Shahd fears wild dogs at night. Another resident, Widad Sobh, said, "The dogs bang against the tent fabric. … They want to attack and eat. I stay up all night chasing them away." Um Hamza described the desperation: "I swear by God, we eat bread after the rats have eaten from it. All I ask is that they find us a better place, … a place away from the waste."