Families in Gaza City are renting small generators by the hour to power water pumps because municipal electricity and water supplies are not functioning in their damaged neighbourhood. Residents share the machine among several homes, paying for the rental and the diesel needed to run it.
The same disruption has pushed displaced families to pay laundries to wash and dry clothes. Services that were once provided by household appliances now come with separate costs for people living in damaged homes, tents or makeshift shelters.
A generator moves from house to house
Hajj Rabhi al-Fairi, 79, said his family and neighbours in the Nassr area can wait more than four hours for their turn. The generator owner adds fuel, starts a timer and switches on the machine so each family can operate a pump connected to its rooftop water tank. Related coverage: How a Gaza centre turns cartoons into support for displaced girls.
Khalil Abu Ouda transports his generator on a horse-drawn cart. He said few small mobile generators remain in working condition, while spare parts, mechanics, fuel and engine oil are difficult or costly to obtain. The machine is both a neighbourhood service and his family’s essential income.
Key figures
- Generator rental has risen from about 80–90 shekels an hour to about 100–120 shekels at different times, excluding diesel.
- A mobile generator operator works about 10–12 hours a day to meet demand.
- A laundry charges six shekels for a load when using solar power and 12 shekels when using a generator.
- A recent United Nations assessment found that 91 percent of surveyed households experienced moderate-to-high water shortages in early August.
- A separate damage assessment found 107,941 of 178,632 inspected housing units were severely damaged, destroyed or considered uninhabitable.
Laundry has become another household expense
Abeer Ghorab, 52, now takes clothes from her tent to a nearby laundry because she cannot wash and dry them at home. She said the service is especially useful for heavy winter clothing, blankets and bedding, but her limited income means she cannot use it every day.
At the al-Hurriya laundry, Fadi Abu Shawarb said the business replaced larger 50kg washing machines with 25kg models because electricity is unreliable and generators frequently break down. The laundry handles about 20 to 30 loads daily, with displaced families among its main customers. Read the context: Displaced families in Gaza struggle for safe, private toilets.
Utilities and homes are no longer supporting daily life
The disruptions extend beyond water and washing. The damage assessment described in the report also covers electricity, sanitation and household appliances, leaving families to pay for tasks they previously managed at home. Ghorab said she once had a washing machine, refrigerator and regular electricity.
The generator operator and laundry workers described demand as high while customers struggle to pay. Their accounts show how the loss of household infrastructure has shifted basic chores into paid services for people living amid damaged housing and displacement.
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