When girls complain to Gaza pediatrician Lobna al-Azaiz that they don’t have a comb, They tell them to get a haircut.

It’s not just about combs.

Israel’s blockade of the territory devastated by 10 months of war means there is virtually no shampoo, soap, menstrual products or household cleaning products.

Garbage collection and sewage treatment have also declined, and it is easy to see why there is an increase in infectious diseases that thrive on overcrowding and lack of cleanliness. for example, scabies or fungal infections.

“Over the last period, the most common diseases that we have seen have been skin rashes, skin diseases that have many causes, including overcrowding in camps, increased heat inside tents, sweating among children. and lack of water for bathing— said the doctor.

Azaiza worked at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia until Israeli tanks cut off the north from the besieged southern enclave.

Like most doctors in Gaza, he has adapted and continues to treat patients while walking past his own destroyed home to work. destroyed as a result of an Israeli attack.

The field clinic he founded with a small team began treating children, but out of necessity it became a clinic for entire families, most of whom were also were ordered to leave their homes or were bombed, as do the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Even affordable medications are often unavailable; a simple tube of burn ointment can now cost 200 shekels ($53).

International aid supplies have fallen sharply since Israel wrested control of the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, worsening the humanitarian crisis.