Basic outhouse facilities featuring flimsy dividers

In the heart of the Middle East, the Gaza Strip continues to face numerous challenges, with water scarcity and journalistic restrictions being at the forefront.

Every day, people in the tent camps of Gaza rise early, lining up with buckets and canisters to collect water from trucks, which are the only water source for the camps. The water distribution process involves small groups forming to speed up the process, with some carrying the filled containers and others emptying them and getting back in line.

The hardest part for people in Gaza is finding clean water for various uses, including drinking, bathing, washing dishes, laundry, and performing ablutions before prayer. Due to the water crisis, people have to adapt to short shower times and limited resources. Twice a week, they are able to find cold water for showers, a luxury that is far from abundant.

In addition to the water shortage, the sanitation conditions in the camps are also deteriorating. Communal toilets are frequently used and poorly maintained, leading to overcrowding, uncleanliness, and a bad smell. The septic tanks in the camps have become a breeding ground for rats and insects. The toilets themselves are primitive, consisting of a hole in the ground with a toilet seat or a bucket with a hole.

The water and sanitation crisis in Gaza has worsened since the resumption of the war in March. The participants are demanding better protection for all media professionals in Gaza and calling for Israel to grant independent access to journalists in the Gaza Strip. The crimes of the Israeli army against Palestinian journalists and reporters in Gaza are also being criticized.

International journalists have not been able to travel to the Gaza Strip and report from there since the beginning of the war. The organization advocating for better protection and access for journalists in the Gaza Strip is "Reporters Without Borders" (Reporter ohne Grenzen).

On September 1, over 150 media outlets from more than 50 countries are participating in a large-scale action day, coordinated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global online campaign movement Avaaz. This action day aims to bring attention to the struggles faced by journalists in the Gaza Strip and to call for improved conditions for all media professionals.

Seham Tantesh, a reporter's cousin from Beit Lahia, has been displaced eight times in total. Her experiences provide insight into life in the Gaza Strip, as documented in the "Gaza Diary", a platform that brings in voices from the ground to provide a first-hand account of life in this troubled region.