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Residents across Gaza are confronting a severe crisis as prolonged electricity shortages leave families unable to refrigerate food and medicine during scorching summer temperatures. The lack of refrigeration has created a dangerous situation where perishable goods spoil rapidly in the intense heat, exacerbating food insecurity in a region already facing critical shortages. Displaced families living in tents are particularly vulnerable, as they struggle to preserve meals received from aid organizations and protect temperature-sensitive medications.
Malak al-Zaanin, a mother of four, exemplifies the daily challenges faced by Gazans. After receiving rice from community kitchens, she must choose between eating immediately or risking spoilage in her tent, which reaches oven-like temperatures. Her refrigerator, once essential for food preservation, now serves as storage shelving. Similarly, Manal Hamad, who has diabetes and requires refrigerated medication, sometimes pays others to store her medicine and food, though these arrangements frequently fail.
Health experts have warned that the combination of extreme heat, power cuts, and absent refrigeration dramatically increases risks of foodborne illnesses and medicine degradation, particularly among displaced populations. UN agencies report critically low fuel supplies entering Gaza—just 1 million liters of diesel in early June—insufficient to sustain essential services. For many Gazans, the inability to preserve food has become another layer of hardship, forcing families to watch nutritious meals spoil while their children go hungry.
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Originally reported by Aljazeera →
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