Extreme heat poses new challenge for aid agencies in Gaza

As soaring temperatures make life in Gaza more unbearable, aid agencies are having to factor climate change into their relief plans

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After 10 months of war, almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people are displaced. They live in tents or overcrowded shelters, there is almost no electricity and little clean water.

Hungry and weak, they cannot shower and struggle to sleep in their boiling shelters. In the heat, food is rotting, drawing insects and flies to crowded camps where people, who have been forced to flee again and again, now risk heatstroke and other heat-related diseases.

Since April, Gaza has experienced several periods of extreme heat, with temperatures reaching around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) during that month. Temperatures throughout August reached an average high of 34 C (93 F), according to U.S. private forecaster AccuWeather.

In late June, the World Health Organization said scorching heat could exacerbate health problems for the millions of displaced, warning that a public health crisis was looming due to the lack of clean water, food and medical supplies.

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