Summer heat turns life into a daily struggle for survival

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• Temperatures in the Gaza Strip are over 30 degrees.
• Only 7 percent of the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have enough water.
• "And our situation is catastrophic." Sewage and a lack of electricity cause further problems for the war-torn people.

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For Rida Abu Hadajed, the summer is a new level of misery in the daily struggle for survival in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Temperatures rise to more than 30 degrees.

The day begins with the cries of her seven children, sweating in the cramped nylon tent of the displaced family. Outside, the humidity is unbearable.

Rida Abu Hadajed tries to cool her two-year-old daughter Azhar in Chan Junis on July 1.

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The 32-year-old mother can only fan her children with a little air, using a tray or a piece of paper - whatever she can find.

The children "cry until the sun goes down"

When she has water, she pours it over the children. But water is an increasingly scarce commodity. "There is no electricity. There is nothing," says Hadajed with a sweaty face. "They can't sleep. They cry all day until the sun goes down."

Hadajed and her family have to survive in orecary conditions.

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The heat in the Gaza Strip exacerbates the plight of the approximately two million people there. Water is scarce, especially clean water, the sewage networks are paralyzed and there is less and less living space. Aid organizations have long warned that this is a breeding ground for disease.

Most people are living in tents. Many have to walk long distances to fetch water. They ration every drop, which limits their ability to wash and cool themselves. "We are only at the beginning of summer," says Hadajed's husband, Jussef. "And our situation is catastrophic."

93 percent suffer from a lack of water

Israel had blocked the import of food, fuel, medicine and all other aid supplies into the Gaza Strip for almost three months. In May, it began to allow a limited amount of aid deliveries again. But the fuel needed for well pumps or to operate desalination plants is still not getting into the Gaza Strip.

Children draw water from a puddle according to a pipe book in Gaza City on May 24.

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According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), only 40 percent of the drinking water treatment plants are still functioning. All others are on the verge of collapse. Already 93 percent of households are suffering from water shortages.

A spokesman for the UN children's aid organization Unicef recently warned that children will die of thirst if no fuel reaches the Gaza Strip. The Hadajeds were forced out of eastern Chan Junis by an evacuation order.

"We are the most tired people in the world"

"Our life in the tent is miserable. We spend our days pouring water over their heads and skin," says Jussef Hadajed about his children. "The water itself is scarce. It is very difficult to get the water."

Palestinians look to cool off in the Mediterranean Sea near Chan Junis on July 2.

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"Me and my children spend our days sweating," says 30-year-old Reham Abu Hadajed, a 30-year-old relative of Rida, who was also displaced from Chan Junis. She is worried about the health of her four children. "I don't have enough money to buy them medicine," she says.

For Mohammed al-Auini, the heat is not even the worst thing. It's the flies and mosquitoes that besiege his tent, especially at night. There is no proper sewage system. Garbage piles up on the streets, attracting insects and diseases.

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The stench of decaying garbage is in the air. "We are awake all night and die from mosquito bites," says the 23-year-old. "We are the most tired people in the world."