In Gaza, bombs and bullets are far from the only threat to life: residents lack food and clean water, health facilities are practically nonexistent, and communication with the outside world is patchy at best.
That's according to Juliette Touma, Director of Communications for UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, who spoke in depth to UN News's Conor Lennon on Monday about her most recent visit to the Strip.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
"This was my second trip since the war began. I try to go whenever it's possible, to express solidarity with the people there who are severely impacted by this brutal war, and also to see our colleagues, who continue to serve the communities through their humanitarian mission.
This time, however, I visited the middle areas, including Deir al-Balah, and then in the south I went to Rafah and Khan Younis.
It was absolutely desperate. Wherever you looked, there were people who are displaced, people asking for assistance, and people were just very, very exhausted and tired after three and a half months of what has been a very brutal war.
I think that what was different to the first visit I took is how congested a city like Rafah has become.
Makeshift shelters
The population of Rafah in the south has quadrupled since the war began. People kept fleeing, looking for shelter in that part of Gaza, in the hope that they will find safety and protection.
Wherever you drove, wherever you walked, wherever you looked, the city was covered with these little structures that people who fled to the area have set up. They're very basic, just a couple of wooden poles covered with plastic sheeting. That's all people can find, and these have become home to many, many people.
'These are not conditions meant for human beings'
I spoke to one mother who was living in one of those informal structures. There were 26 people living on top of each other in a small space, less than three square meters.
She was carrying two of her kids, and she told me that they have no way to stay warm at night, that they were frustrated, that they are tired of this life.
She said that, in terms of assistance, she only had one piece of vegetable, to be shared between the 26 people. She told me that she cannot wash: either the queues are too long, or the showers don't work.
These are not conditions meant for human beings.
