Struggle and Solidarity: Writing Toward Palestinian Liberation

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Just a few hundred meters from Al-Ma’madani Hospital in the center of Gaza City lies Firas Market, which has turned into a site for heaps of mixed garbage as medical waste accumulates alongside household trash, commercial trash, and rubble remnants.

The piles stretch across the market and between buildings, suffocating the city with choking odors and rising dust, right next to passersby and vendors at work. With rising summer temperatures, these heaps turn into hotspots for methane and ammonia gas emissions, worsening air quality and impacting the small, besieged city’s climate.

Cars pass alongside the piles, and children navigate through them searching for reusable scraps, while silent anxiety seeps into Gaza’s pollution-laden air. The situation reflects not only a sanitation crisis but also a breakdown in the urban safety systems that once regulated waste disposal and protected public health.

Before the current war, Gaza’s waste management system faced significant challenges, but waste collection vehicles were nevertheless operating across Gaza’s municipalities, and waste was transported to main landfill sites. Even though Gaza struggled to consistently meet international standards for sanitation, there were still basic procedures in place for managing medical waste through health authorities and relevant institutions. The war has severely disrupted all of these systems.

Yousef Al-Qudra, who holds a leadership position concerning solid waste management in Gaza, tells me that the council has operated with almost no resources since the war began. He adds that all facilities and equipment were destroyed, completely halting sorting, transport, and treatment.

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The continuous exposure to mixed waste has begun to reshape daily life in the area. Residents report difficulty breathing, increased insect activity, and a growing fear of contamination. Firas Market used to be a commercial hub and has gradually transformed into an informal dumping ground.

On a street corner, sanitation worker Omar Al-Sharif pulls his metal cart filled with bags labeled “medical waste.” He says tiredly: “This waste isn’t ordinary; it contains needles, blood tubes, and surgical bags. We collect it every day amid the crowd, and no one provides us with protective gear. Just one prick could kill us.”

“This waste isn’t ordinary; it contains needles, blood tubes, and surgical bags. We collect it every day amid the crowd, and no one provides us with protective gear. Just one prick could kill us.”

“This waste isn’t ordinary; it contains needles, blood tubes, and surgical bags. We collect it every day amid the crowd, and no one provides us with protective gear. Just one prick could kill us.”

His statement reflects a wider systemic failure in occupational safety. Workers handling hazardous materials are often exposed without gloves, masks, or proper containment tools, increasing the risk of infection and long-term health complications. Medical waste, which should........

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