Piles of Garbage Add to Problems amid Rubble of Gaza City

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Piles of Garbage Add to Problems amid Rubble of Gaza City

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2025. (Reuters)

Among the piles of rubble from destroyed buildings in Gaza City, large piles of garbage have also risen — another sign of the difficulties Palestinians face as they return to homes under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Associated Press footage this week showed hills of garbage lining streets in Gaza City, often next to partially collapsed buildings. Children picked through one pile, searching for food or anything of use for their families.

“It spreads disease among people and itching and coughing among children,” resident Abu Saad Saleh said. “People burn it and the smoke enters our homes. It has destroyed us. For God’s sake, remove this garbage from us.”

Much of Gaza City and surrounding areas of north Gaza were decimated by repeated Israeli offensives against Hamas during 15 months of war. Municipal services like garbage collection collapsed early on, leaving nowhere to dispose of waste except the streets.

With the start of a ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south have returned to Gaza City. But they face a host of problems: Many have nowhere to live after homes were destroyed, water is in short supply, electricity near nonexistent. The garbage adds to their woes with the smell, flies and pollution as some people burn it.

On Monday, Rabah al-Kord burned a pile of trash in a garbage-filled lot next to his building, sending up a column of black smoke. He said he had no choice.

“When we throw out, mosquitoes and flies come to it, and all of this causes disease,” he said. “We burn to clean what is around us.”



At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
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At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb

A train slammed into a minibus that was crossing the tracks in an unauthorized location in norther Egypt on Thursday, killing at least eight people and leaving 12 injured, the government said.

The deadly crash took place in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, the health ministry said. More than a dozen ambulances were sent to the scene, Reuters reported.

The Egyptian railway authority said the passenger train was on its regular route when the collision occurred. The place where the minibus was crossing the railway tracks is not designated for crossing.

Local Egyptian news outlets said the victims, who included children, were all take to East Qantara Central Hospital. One child was reported to be in critical condition.

Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. Last October, a locomotive crashed into the tail of a Cairo-bound passenger train in southern Egypt, killing at least one person. In September, two passenger trains collided in a Nile Delta city, killing at least three people.

In recent years, the government has announced initiatives to improve its railways. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in 2018 that some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the neglected rail network.