For tens of thousands of families displaced by Israel’s bombardment of northern Gaza, survival now hinges on something as basic as a tent. But even this modest shelter has become an unattainable luxury, as scarcity, soaring costs and chaos at aid crossings drive families to seek desperate alternatives.
Israel has launched a ground offensive on Gaza city, which it has ordered Palestinians to leave while continuing its air strikes across the strip. It aims to seize the city, pushing Palestinians to the south, where nowhere near enough shelter or tents are available for the large population. Israel's plan prompted international condemnation, including from the UN.
Across southern Gaza, tents have become high-demand commodities in a market distorted by blockade, profiteering and overwhelming need. Prices have risen sharply, leaving most families with little hope of finding safe shelter.
According to Khalil Sardah, 29, a shop owner in Al Mawasi, the chaos begins at the border. “Every few days, five or six trucks carrying tents and tarpaulins enter Gaza through the Morag crossing,” he told The National. “But these are left for people to seize. International organisations are prevented from distributing them because the trucks can’t reach storage facilities safely.”
Without secure delivery, the shipments are diverted. “Those who take control of the tents now operate like organised gangs,” Mr Sardah said. “They set prices between $600 and $1,200 depending on the quality, and only accept cash. They deprive the needy of aid meant for them.”
Mr Sardah admits he buys from these groups to keep his business afloat but insists the real blame lies with those deliberately causing the disorder. “The occupation [Israel] prevents aid from being properly delivered, leaving families at the mercy of the black market.”
For those trying to build their own tents, the financial burden is just as crushing.
“The cost of building a tent is extremely high due to soaring prices of wood and tarpaulins,” said Mansour Al Astal, 35, who owns a small wood and tent supply shop in Al Mawasi.
Before the war, a tarpaulin cost 50 shekels ($14); now it is 500. A single plank of wood that once sold for six shekels now goes for 80.
“Setting up just one tent with a toilet, no bigger than 20 square metres, costs at least $1,000 in cash,” Mr Al Astal said. “If paid electronically, it could be $1,600 or more. More than 80 per cent of Gaza’s residents can’t afford this – not even half.”
And even for families who scrape together enough money, there is another obstacle: land. “You need a place to put the tent,” he said. “But land is scarce and renting a plot has become a crisis of its own.”
In a territory where more than a million people have been displaced in under a year, the lack of shelter has become a humanitarian emergency. Aid groups say the ban on ready-made tents and the collapse of supply chains have left most displaced people with nothing more than plastic sheets, blankets, or rubble for cover.
wood shop owner
In Deir Al Balah, Mohammed Al Qassas, 42, has turned his small wood shop into a lifeline for families searching for shelter materials. He has lived through the crisis himself, having been displaced from Gaza city.
“We hear painful stories every day of people sleeping in the streets, unable to afford even the cheapest shelter,” he told The National. “People come to my shop asking about prices, shyly, wishing they could buy something to cover themselves. But most can’t. And I don’t have much stock anyway.”
The crisis goes beyond wood and tarpaulin. “Everything is expensive – nails, tools, nylon. Prices are 10 times higher than before," Mr Al Qassas said. "And even if you manage to build a tent, it won’t last. Rain and wind can destroy it. But people have no other option.”
For most, a tent is now as out of reach as a permanent home. Families crowd into schools, makeshift shelters, or fields, waiting for help that rarely arrives.
“Gaza is living through an unparalleled tragedy,” Mr Al Qassas said. “People literally cannot find shelter. Aid organisations are too few. People don’t know what to do except wait on the sidewalks.”
As coastal winds pick up and winter rains loom, Gaza’s fragile shelters face another impending disaster. A $1,000 tent can collapse in a single storm, sending families back into the open.
For now, the displaced are caught between impossible choices: pay an exorbitant price to survive under a flimsy roof – or endure life on the streets without cover.
