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.”



Gold Mine Collapse Kills 11 Workers in Sudan

The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
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Gold Mine Collapse Kills 11 Workers in Sudan

The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)

A gold mine partly collapsed in eastern Sudan, killing 11 miners, the state-run company in charge of the project said Sunday.

The collapse of the Kersh al-Feel mine happened over the weekend in the desert town of Houeid in the eastern Nile River province, the Sudanese Mineral Resources Limited Company said in a statement. Another seven workers were injured and transferred to a hospital, it said.

The company said it had stopped excavation and reiterated its warning to informal miners against working at the site.

Sudan is a major gold producer but mine collapses are common due to poor safety standards.

Similar incidents in recent years include a 2023 collapse that killed 14 miners and another in 2021 that claimed 38 lives.