Inside Palestine’s Beleaguered Tent Cities

By Kasturi Chakraborty

Imagine losing everything — your home, your city, your sense of safety — and then being forced to live in a tent that can barely withstand a strong wind. This is the daily reality for nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, who have been pushed from their homes into a landscape of temporary survival.

The makeshift tents, constructed from nylon and fabric, offer minimal protection against harsh weather. Mothers wrap thin blankets around shivering children. Fathers patch leaking tent roofs with whatever materials they can find. The ground beneath them is mud, the sky above them is gray, and hope feels like a distant memory. Many families have even resorted to digging trenches around their tents and using concrete blocks to protect against flooding.

In Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, families watch helplessly as rainwater floods their temporary shelters. Their belongings, what little they have left, float away in the rising water. 

17-year-old Maram

Seventeen-year-old Maram Tayseer Abu Nada fears being displaced for the fifth time from Khan Yunis. Living in al-Mawasi in the northern Gaza Strip with her mother (45), and two brothers – Omar (10) and Ibrahim (20), Maram is in her final year of high school, determined to build a future where she can support her family after being abandoned by her father. She began her story,

I want to have my own job and provide for my family. We left our home on October 7, 2023. We moved to my grandmother’s, then to my aunt’s, and finally to a school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, our house was bombed on November 12, 2023.

The tent is inhabitable. She said her mother’s family, including her grandmother, uncles, and aunt, live nearby, and their makeshift shelters surround her.

I am cold. A good tent costs a thousand dollars.

When it rains, the tent floods from all sides, its flimsy walls made of cloth and scraps offering little protection. The biting cold seeps in, and they have no warm clothes or blankets to fight it off.

“There’s no food, no bread, nothing,” she adds. She and her brother have tried to gather help online, but their efforts have failed. “No one helps, and the little we do receive isn’t enough to meet even our basic needs.”

People are tired of us and of donating to us.

This writer had received a voice recording on November 5 on WhatsApp with a message saying,

The bombing is intense. I can’t sleep. I wish all this would stop, I’m really tired.

The situation for displaced Palestinians in tent camps near Khan Younis has become increasingly dangerous due to Israeli airstrikes targeting these supposedly “safe zones.”

Pattern of Attacks

In the Mawasi, Israel carried out at least six airstrikes targeting displacement tents between November 9-20. One devastating incident killed the two young sons of a widow – Abdul Aziz (9) and Hamza (6) – while they slept in their tent. Another tragic strike completely wiped out the Abu Hassan family, killing Khaled, his wife Amani, and their three children as they slept in their tent.

One of the deadliest airstrikes struck the al-Mawasi camp as families slept. The bombardment destroyed between 20 and 40 tents, left three deep craters, killed at least 40 people, and wounded 60 others. Another 15 people remain missing. 

The lack of electricity plunges families into darkness, making daily life unbearable and complicating rescue efforts after strikes. Basic infrastructure and facilities are nearly non-existent. Tents are crammed closely together, creating a perilous situation where even a single strike can result in widespread casualties. The overcrowding and inadequate conditions leave residents vulnerable to both violence and disease. 

The Mawasi area, once a beautiful coastal stretch with golden sand dunes, has transformed into a scene of devastation and horror following recent Israeli bombardments. Civilians face increasing risks as military operations intensify. Residents describe sudden explosions that come without warning, giving them no time to react or seek safety. Strikes often occur in rapid succession, amplifying the destruction and panic. Adding to the chaos, tanks have begun entering the tented areas unannounced, forcing families to flee for their lives with only the belongings they can carry.

When targeting tents, the IDF claims to sometimes issue evacuation orders for shelters within 500 meters, but the close proximity of tents means strikes still cause widespread damage and casualties. The rescue workers described finding women and children cut to pieces with entire families disappearing under the sand.

Living Conditions

Water access is severely limited, with 95% of the population needing more clean water. Food prices have skyrocketed, with flour costs increasing from $10 to $40-100 per 25kg bag. Families struggle to find working bathrooms, leading many to dig makeshift toilets. 

Children have been suffering from weight loss, diarrhea, and various illnesses, while access to medicine remains severely limited. The destruction of healthcare infrastructure has left families without access to essential medical treatment, with 60% of essential medicines depleted.

Life in tents is harsh, no matter the season. In August, Maram shared how her younger brother had developed painful heat-induced pimples. “My brother had pimples on his back from the heat in the tents,” Maram had informed this writer in August. 

Sahar, Maram’s mother, is battling severe anemia, and her condition is deteriorating.

We have been to many hospitals, but no one seems to care. She is very sick, and I feel completely helpless,

Maram said. “She needs blood transfusions, and the iron tablets only make her weaker.” She described how her mother often feels “exhausted, shaky, dizzy, and sometimes can’t even get out of bed.”

Temperatures drop as low as 6°C (42°F), with families lacking proper heating or winter clothing. The combination of rain and cold has created particularly harsh conditions for children and elderly residents. 

Maram herself has been struggling with her health. In October, she was hospitalized after developing an inflamed neck, which she shared in a photo sent to this writer. “Doctors are still trying to find the cause,” she said, adding that she was prescribed medication but warned she might need surgery if it didn’t help. The surgery was scheduled for October 26, 2024. By November, she was down with the flu, feeling even more worn out.

Daily Survival

Every day is spent searching for twigs to light cooking fires, waiting hours in line for drinking water at 1 shekel per gallon, collecting non-potable water from public pipes for washing, and scouring markets for basic foods as flour prices climb from $10 to $100 per bag. Many spend their days scavenging for cooking materials, with children searching through the wreckage for wood and cardboard

Families of up to 10 people squeeze into tiny spaces, often sharing 16-square-meter tents. The overcrowding has pushed almost all Palestinians toward southern areas, particularly Rafah, where the population has swelled from 280,000 to over 1 million. 

“We have started to wish for death,” the 17-year-old gasped, “because we are just bodies without souls.”

Can you believe it? I am hungry, my stomach is empty all day. What kind of life is this?

Maram asked. She dreams of leaving Palestine to get proper treatment for her mother, to live a simple life free of loss and pain, and to pursue her education and dreams like any other person. “I want to leave Palestine and return to it as well—free,” she said. For now, Maram remains trapped, in a tent city.