GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Life in the Gaza Strip's quarantine centers is tense, confrontational and lacking in basic needs.

“A week into our arrival, I complained to the Independent Commission for Human Rights about the lack of vegetables and fruits, so they started providing us with two pieces of vegetables or two pieces of fruits with lunch, but there are still no herbal drinks, supplements or vitamins,” 31-year-old freelance journalist Sahar al-Dahleez, who has been in quarantine since March 25, told Al-Monitor. Dahleez was placed in the Kuwait Secondary School for Girls in the Jabalia governorate north of the Gaza Strip after she entered the country through the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza. She spoke to Al-Monitor on April 7 — her ninth day in quarantine.

Dahleez’s arrival at the crossing coincided with the arrival of seven prisoners released by Egyptian authorities after they completed their sentences. 

“We were told that the Ministry of Health would take care of us and that the released individuals would be in another quarantine center under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior. But in the end, we were all quarantined in the same center,” she said.