Professionals across Gaza are using tents as clinics, offices, classrooms and shops after Israeli air raids destroyed workplaces and displaced communities since October 2023. The shift began in late 2023 as residents moved toward the coast, and has continued even as bombing has relatively decreased.
Dr Mohammed al-Khalidi runs a prosthetics and orthotics practice from a tent in al-Mawasi after his clinic in Rafah was destroyed in April 2024 and two more in Khan Younis were destroyed in May 2025. He salvaged medical equipment and continued treating patients amid demand created by an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 amputations between October 2023 and October 2025.
Other workers have made similar adaptations. Civil engineer Omar al-Tawashi works from a tent after his office was destroyed in August 2024, while accountant Mahmoud Shaheen sees clients in a Nuseirat market after his company’s office was destroyed in November 2025. Teacher Palestine Hussein now teaches from a tent after an air raid destroyed the educational centre she had built in Bureij.
Trader Khalil al-Tahrawi sells salvaged clothing from a rented patch of pavement for $350 a month, packing away his stock each night. More than four-fifths of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and rents in some cases have risen to more than 10 times pre-war levels. Power cuts, unreliable internet and equipment shortages further constrain work, while customers travel between camps and towns and often face higher prices.