Gaza’s tents suffocate in the summer heat as sick and displaced face worsening conditions
Alaa Hamami cleans outside her tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, Gaza
Sally Ibrahim reports in The New Arab on 14 May 2026:
In the sweltering midday heat west of Gaza City, Amina Abu Awda presses a damp cloth against her husband’s arms as he lies motionless inside their cramped tent.
The fabric clings to his skin for a moment of relief before quickly drying in the stifling air. His chronic skin condition, once manageable, has deteriorated sharply in recent days as temperatures have risen and there has been no electricity to run fans.
The couple’s shelter, like thousands of others across displacement camps in Gaza, is made of thin nylon sheets stretched over fragile frames. By midday, it offers no shade, only heat trapped inside like an oven, with electricity fully cut and no functioning fan or cooling device available.
“There is nothing left to ease my husband’s suffering,” the 49-year-old mother of six told The New Arab. “He used to need a cool environment to keep his condition stable, but now we live inside a closed nylon tent. By noon, it turns into an oven.”
As she tries to fan him with a piece of cardboard, she says his condition is worsening.
“There is redness, sores, and constant inflammation from sweat and heat. He cannot sleep. Sometimes he stays awake all night because of the itching and suffocating temperature,” she explained.