In Khan Younis, where Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University once stood, thousands of families say they’re being forced to live next to what has become a putrid temporary garbage dump.

Stretching 250 metres, the pile of garbage is longer than Seattle’s Space Needle is high. Flies, cockroaches and other bugs are inescapable, as is the unbearable foul smell.

“The situation is indescribable,” said Abdullah Tayseer, 48, who moved to Khan Younis with his wife and three children after fighting forced them from their temporary refuge in Rafah.

“All day long, we live in misery.”