Gaza is facing a looming environmental and health catastrophe as garbage continues to pile up on streets, in residential neighborhoods and in displacement camps, local authorities warned Thursday.

The Joint Services Council for Solid Waste Management in central and southern Gaza said the worsening crisis, driven by Israel’s closure of major dumping sites and restrictions on fuel and equipment, has pushed the enclave’s waste management system to the brink of collapse.

“We are living through a critical moment that no longer concerns only the humanitarian crisis but has become a direct threat to the environment and public health,” Ahmed Al-Sufi, the head of the council, told a press conference in Deir al-Balah.

He said municipalities can no longer reach sanitary landfills, forcing waste to accumulate near homes and tents sheltering displaced Palestinians and creating conditions for the spread of disease.

“We are facing a dangerous reality marked by the spread of rodents and insects in the absence of proper waste treatment,” he said.