Life without refrigerators: Gaza residents fight heat and food spoilage

Gaza families endure scorching summers without refrigerators, struggling to preserve food, medicine and basics. Inside the tent Malak al-Zaanin has lived in since being displaced from her home in Gaza, the mother of four holds a tray of rice her family received that afternoon from a nearby community kitchen.

She has already shared the meal with her husband and children, but her next worry is how to keep the valued leftovers from spoiling in the sweltering heat. Before the war, her refrigerator kept food fresh for days, but due to a lack of electricity caused by Israel’s siege on Gaza, it now sits unused inside the tent. She placed the remaining rice on metal shelves inside the tent, knowing what will inevitably happen amid Gaza’s endemic food crisis.

“The children will be hungry again soon and ask for food, she says. “By then, it will probably have spoiled because we don’t have a refrigerator, and the tent feels like an oven. UN agencies have previously warned that extreme heat, prolonged power cuts and the lack of refrigeration in Gaza are increasing risks of food spoilage and food-borne illnesses, especially among displaced families.””