Chickenpox is spreading rapidly through Gaza’s displacement camps, with around 9,300 cases recorded in just two weeks across more than 130 health facilities. The UN health cluster attributed the surge to extreme overcrowding in displacement sites, high summer temperatures, and declining access to clean water.
More than half the recorded cases were concentrated in Khan Younis governorate. In the same week, health teams recorded more than 18,000 new cases of infectious skin diseases across the Strip, including scabies, head lice, and impetigo.
For families living in tents that measure only a few square metres, the medical advice to isolate sick children is simply unworkable. Hamada Abu Ghali, displaced in Nuseirat, whose daughter was initially misdiagnosed before a dermatologist confirmed she had chickenpox, said: “They said he has to be on his own, with his own mattress, his own clothes and washing, but where? We are living in a tent and there is literally no space.”
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The infection had already passed to one of her brothers. Before the war, Abu Ghali had a house and rooms, but today all of them are in one tent. His son wanted to go outside like any child, Abu Ghali said, but the area around the tent offered no protection.
Around 1.7 million people are now living in more than 1,600 displacement sites across the Gaza Strip, according to UN data, amid severe shortages of drinking water, hygiene items, and sanitation services. Dr Sharif Mattar, a paediatric consultant at Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, said the published statistics were likely a significant undercount.
Most children with chickenpox were being seen in tents or primary healthcare centres and never reached hospital, Dr Mattar said, meaning a substantial share of cases did not appear in the data. Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus and spreads through respiratory droplets, direct contact with blisters, or contact with contaminated surfaces — precisely the conditions that are impossible to control in displacement camps.
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Nurse Sheimaa Hajji, working at a health centre, said facilities were seeing daily increases in children with skin diseases. Most arrived only after the rash had already spread widely across their bodies. Treatment was largely limited to relieving itching and reducing the risk of secondary bacterial infections — and even basic supplies for that were running short.
Bassam Zaqout, director of Medical Relief in the Gaza Strip, said thousands of children born during the war had been unable to complete their vaccination schedules, while restrictions on importing new vaccine shipments had left the health sector unable to strengthen community immunity.
The shortage of calamine lotion — used to relieve itching and soothe rashes — was adding to children’s distress, as continued scratching risked leading to inflammation and further complications. With the health system already overwhelmed, the lack of basic medical supplies is exacerbating the situation, making it even more challenging to control the spread of disease.