From her tent made of blankets, tar and wooden beams, Asala Shehata, 32, puts her three-year-old daughter Heba down on a mat on the ground to change her diaper. What used to be a simple routine has turned into a complex activity, another aspect of life that more than a year of war has changed in Gaza.
She starts by putting a towel on the child and wrapping it in a plastic bag around her waist. Then, she puts the diaper on Heba. This way, she can wash and reuse the diaper for a few more weeks, since it is only slightly soiled.
The cost of diapers has gone up – and that's if they'll be available when the mother of four goes out to buy them. A pack of 30, which once cost 13 shekels ($5 Cdn), can now run up to 70 shekels ($28 Cdn), an increase of more than 400 percent.
The Israeli government said it has given the green light to allow aid trucks into the area, but they say much of the aid is siphoned off before it reaches the civilians it is meant to help. Last week, UNRWA also halted aid shipments into Gaza after more trucks has been plundered.
But that leaves mothers like Shehata, who lives in Khan Younis on a site that was once the campus of Al-Aqsa University, desperate for diapers, and trying to turn to other options while they are waiting for more items to come in.
“We buy a diaper, we keep it and wash it for maybe two weeks until it breaks down,” Shehata told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.
“Diapers are very expensive and are in short supply on the market. ”
Waiting all day for diapers
It is noon at the Al-Buhaisi shopping center in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and a large crowd has gathered, pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to reach the shop window.
People hold pink packages high in their arms – they are the lucky ones who managed to grab a few diapers for their children this time.
Umm Aseel, 55, had been in line since 8am, but she was unable to get diapers for her grandchildren. The father, her son, has been in prison for 17 years, leaving her and the children's mother to watch over the quadruplets.
“I sold their mother's bracelets so I could buy them diapers… and I still couldn't get them,” she told El Saife.
In a report published in DecemberUNICEF said children in Gaza are facing a “deepening disaster” as access to essential goods and services continues to decline.
“Daily supplies parents need to keep their children healthy are either unavailable or too expensive for families to afford,” it read.
More than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza is slipping into lawlessness and aid groups say the breakdown threatens the lives of up to two million people.
While the Rafah border bordering Egypt remains closed, the only other option for aid to enter the strip is through the Kerem Shalom border, which connects Gaza to Israel and Egypt .
But issues with crossing the border, together with images of trucks ready to cross with the help of international organizations, have caused an uproar among the international community. Israel has previously said that Hamas was stealing the aid, and the group then said that Israel was deliberately stopping at the border.
Now, as the war continues into its second year, and Hamas loses control of the land, wickedness has taken over. Looters and gangs have targeted aid trucks and sold many of those supplies to desperate civilians, who then drive up the cost.
Truck drivers told El Saife earlier in December that while they were crossing the Kerem Shalom border, snipers would shoot at their trucks, targeting their tires and windshields. sometimes forcing drivers to go to undisclosed locations to drop off their cargoes rather than warehouses of international organizations.
Hala Abdel Ghani, 34, also queued all day for diapers at the shopping center and was left empty-handed.
“I want to leave but I can't because I didn't get anything for my son,” she told El Saife. “There's a diaper emergency.”
Abdel Ghani says she runs through a pack of diapers every day for her three-year-old son, who has liver problems. Their increasing cost makes them difficult to obtain, and even more difficult to maintain a supply.
The Israel-Hamas war began after an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7 killed around 1,200 people and saw 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Israel's military response to Gaza has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Used diapers cause rashes, sores
Back in her tent in Khan Younis, Shehata puts the diapers in a basin with other laundry. With a bar of soap, she begins to clean the diaper and then hangs it on a line in the space between the tents.
“The children had rashes, allergic reactions, infections, wounds,” she said. “They have been exposed to so much but I try my best to disinfect the area.”
Nearby, little Heba walks away with a smile and a bottle of baby water in hand. Her mother has changed her into a Mickey Mouse outfit and tied her hair up in pigtails. On the outside, the child seems to live a normal life – unaware of what her mother goes through to secure something as simple as a diaper for her.
