Palestinians exposed to harsh winter weather search through rubbish to find items to keep warm

(22 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip – 21 January 2026
1. Various of displaced people gathering near garbage dump, collecting cardboard and plastic to use as fuel for cooking and heating
2. Various of displaced woman searching through garbage for anything she can use to make fire
3. Various of displaced children collecting materials from the garbage to use as fuel
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aziz Akel, displaced man from Jabaliya:
“Today, firewood is around 7, 8 shekels ($2-3) and we have no income. No employees in the Authority or the government. My house is gone and my kids were wounded, and my situation is miserable. I came to collect some plastics to save us some money.”
5. Various of displaced girl collecting plastic and cardboard from the garbage
6. Various of displaced people gathering near the garbage dump, collecting materials to start a fire
7. Various of displaced people's tents near the garbage dump
8. Various of displaced people carrying bags containing materials they collected from the garbage to use as fuel for fire
9. Akel returning to his tent carrying a bag of garbage
10. Akel emptying contents of his bag, which contains plastic and nylon bags
11. Various of Akel using collected materials to set fire
12. Various of Akel and his daughter cooking over fire
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lina Akel, Aziz Akel's daughter:
“He goes out every day in the morning, to collect some plastic and papers. Of course that is not healthy, but we are forced to do it. My father is not employed. There are no jobs. Every day, he goes out to get some paper for us to spend the day. To prepare breakfast, lunch, and bake. The basics of life.”
14. Various of Akel and his daughter Lina warming bread over fire
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sanaa Salah, Aziz Akel's wife:
“Life is very hard, to the extent that we cannot buy firewood and we cannot buy gas. We cannot even have a cup of tea. My husband has to collect plastic in the morning, or paper, or stuff from the streets so that we can live, and cook, and make a cup of tea, and feed our kids, and live. This is very harmful.”
16. Various of Lina and her mother Sanaa warming bread, smoke rising from the fire
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sanaa Salah, Aziz Akel's wife:
“It is all smoke and diseases, but we are forced to use it because we have no income at all. We do it to live, and to eat, and to live. This is our life, no income, no money, no covers, no winter clothes. I swear, all night we are sick from the cold. There are no clothes to keep us warm. We do not sleep at night from the cold.”
18. Various of Sanaa and her daughter warming bread over the fire; smoke rising
19. Various of Akel family eating their breakfast inside their tent
STORYLINE:
In a garbage dump in Khan Younis’s Muwasi area, many Palestinians gather to dig with their bare hands in the garbage in search of plastics and paper to help start a fire to cook and keep warm in the bitter cold of January.

For many of them, buying firewood is not possible.

“Today, firewood was around 7, 8 shekels and we have no income,” said Aziz Akel, who lives in a modest, bare-bones tent with his family, but leaves early in the morning to scour the garbage in a bid to find some plastic that would save him some money. “My house is gone and my kids were wounded, and my situation is miserable.”

Inside the tent where Akel lives with his wife and six kids, starting a fire is a critical daily chore they have to do to cook and keep warm.












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