Nearly nine months after the ceasefire agreement signed in October 2025, living conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, with frustration, despair, and anger toward Hamas reportedly growing among residents.

A Gaza resident told Israel Hayom that the approaching summer heat is worsening conditions for hundreds of thousands of people living in tents. “The situation is not good. Summer is coming, temperatures are rising, and people are really suffering in the tents,” he said. “The situation is very difficult, and skin diseases are spreading among the population.”

According to the resident, sanitation conditions have become catastrophic, with garbage piling up, sewage flowing through streets, and infestations of rats, flies, and mosquitoes affecting daily life. He said diseases and viruses are spreading rapidly and that the health of infants and children is a growing concern.

He also described a worsening shortage of clean drinking water. “It is very difficult to find fresh water. My children and I also lack it,” he said. “Sometimes we have to buy drinking water so we won’t suffer from kidney diseases, but not everyone can afford it.”

The resident said the water shortage is also contributing to poor hygiene and increasing rates of infection and disease. At the same time, prices remain high while free aid available to residents has declined significantly.

Frequent power outages and a lack of refrigeration are causing food to spoil quickly. “Many people are suffering severe food poisoning after eating spoiled food in the heat,” he said. “There is not enough electricity to operate refrigerators in homes. It has been two months since I drank cold water. We routinely drink warm water.”

He said many Gaza residents have been living in tents for nearly three years, without basic living conditions and with little hope for improvement. According to the resident, the ongoing hardship has created growing bitterness and resentment toward Hamas.

“We are convinced Hamas only cares about its own interests and never cared about its own people,” he said.

The resident also expressed concern over expanding Israeli military activity beyond the Yellow Line while much of Gaza’s population is concentrated in a limited area of the Strip.

“People are tense and honestly express resentment and bitterness toward Hamas,” he said. “We see the Israeli military expanding its activity beyond the Yellow Line, and today everyone is living in roughly 30% of Gaza’s territory, so we fear what may come next.”

He added that the despair has reached the point where many residents no longer care who governs Gaza in the future.

“Most Gaza residents no longer care who governs them,” he said. “Whether it is Egypt, Mohammed Dahlan from Fatah, or even if Israel returns to administer Gaza as it did in the past.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)