KHAN YOUNIS, Nov 07 (Agencies): Stinking mounds of fly-covered garbage lie strewn throughout Gaza amid the rubble from Israel's devastating military campaign, spilling out along roadsides and between the tents where most of the shattered enclave's people live.
Government services such as rubbish collection ceased as soon as the war began and although they are partially returning since the truce last month, the massive extent of destruction means any more thorough cleanup lies far in the future.
"I don't smell any fresh air. I smell a foul odour in my tent. I can't sleep. My children wake up in the morning coughing," said Mahmoud Abu Reida, gesturing at the dumpster by the tent he shares with his wife and four children in Khan Younis.
Rotting garbage, sewage-filled pools, hazardous waste from bomb sites and noxious smoke from burning cloth and plastic have birthed a fetid environment for Gazans.
"The scale of the waste problem in Gaza is huge," said Alessandro Mrakic, head of the Gaza office of the UN development agency UNDP.
Waste landfill sites were already full before the start of the war and three major dump sites were located along the border with Israel in areas that are now off limits to Palestinians, he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Friday it had killed two suspects it said threw Molotov cocktails in the occupied West Bank village of Judeira overnight.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the dead as two 16-year-old boys.
"Last night... two terrorists were identified as they ignited and threw Molotov cocktails toward a main civilian route," in Judeira, north of Jerusalem, the military said in a statement.
Iran condemns 'savage'
Israeli attacks on Lebanon
Iran strongly condemned on Friday what it called "savage" Israeli attacks on Lebanon, after its arch-foe hit targets belonging to the Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement. In a statement, the Iranian foreign ministry urged "the United Nations, the international community and regional countries to confront the warmongering" of Israel while offering "condolences on the martyrdom of Lebanese citizens during the savage attacks".
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