KHAN YUNIS, Gaza – Dr. Mohammed al-Khalidi, a prosthetics and orthotics specialist, operates out of a modest canvas shelter in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza. This temporary structure serves as his clinic following the destruction of his original practice on al-Bahr Street in Rafah by Israeli airstrikes in April 2024. His subsequent clinics in Khan Younis’s Old City were also destroyed in May 2025.
After losing all three locations, al-Khalidi recovered whatever medical equipment he could salvage and relocated into the tent, where he has treated patients for the past two years. His experience reflects a broader shift in Gaza since the outbreak of war in October 2023, which has wiped out thousands of offices, clinics, and shops through repeated air raids.
This phenomenon began emerging in December 2023 after residents of Khan Younis were displaced to a narrow coastal strip between their hometown and Deir el-Balah. Following a ceasefire announcement in October 2025—despite previous repeated violations—tent-based surgeries, offices, and retail stalls proliferated across the enclave as professionals sought to maintain their practices.
Al-Khalidi noted that working in such confined spaces presents significant hurdles, including limited room, erratic power supplies, intense heat, and persistent noise. Nevertheless, he emphasized the necessity of continuing care for a population with urgent needs.
“Patients who need prosthetic limbs or orthotic devices cannot always wait until conditions return to normal,” al-Khalidi told Al Jazeera. “Some have lost a limb during the war, while others need follow-up care or adjustments to devices they rely on in their daily lives.” He added that between October 2023 and October 2025, between 5,000 and 6,000 people underwent amputations in Gaza.
The crisis is exacerbated by a severe real estate shortage. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), more than four-fifths of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the war began. Consequently, rental prices have surged to levels unaffordable for most professionals, forcing many to adapt to makeshift work environments.
Omar al-Tawashi, a civil engineer and construction auditor, faced similar losses. His office was destroyed in an August 2024 airstrike, and his home, where he briefly resumed operations in July 2025, met the same fate. He subsequently moved to a tent in Deir el-Balah.
“My move to a tent was not a professional choice. It was a direct result of the destruction of the place where I used to work, compounded by the rental crisis,” al-Tawashi said. “In some cases, rents have risen to more than 10 times their pre-war levels, making a new office beyond my means.”
Al-Tawashi described the tent as an unsuitable environment for engineering work due to extreme temperatures and lack of privacy. “But stopping work would mean losing my source of income,” he stated.
In the Nuseirat camp market in central Gaza, accountant Mahmoud Shaheen holds client meetings inside a small tent amid the sounds of neighboring vendors. His former office was destroyed in a November 2025 airstrike. “Moving to a tent was not so much a professional choice as a response to a reality imposed by the war,” Shaheen said.
The trend has also impacted education. With the start of the new school year, tents have been erected across Gaza to replace schools destroyed in airstrikes or converted into displacement shelters. Teacher Palestine Hussein, who previously taught English at a center in Bureij that she had helped build, now instructs children from a tent at the al-Balata displacement camp in Nuseirat.
Hussein acknowledged the lack of seating, ventilation, and protection from heat and noise. “Although the tent may appear to be a temporary place, to me it represents an attempt to hold on to what remains of my profession and rebuild my dream from scratch, even with the most basic resources,” she said.
Merchants, too, have adapted. Khalil al-Tahrawi lost his clothing store in Nuseirat to bombing in October 2023. He salvaged surviving stock, primarily men’s T-shirts and jeans, and now sells from a small tent in the market. He pays $350 monthly for a small patch of pavement and removes his merchandise nightly to prevent theft.
“This routine makes the work even more difficult and consumes my time and energy,” al-Tahrawi said. He noted that power cuts, unreliable internet, and equipment shortages complicate business efforts during periods of relative calm.
Consumer behavior has also shifted, with residents traveling to specific towns or camps for particular goods, often facing prices higher than those during the pre-war siege. Mohammed Zweid, a 24-year-old IT worker shopping in Nuseirat, said, “Accessing professionals in tents and temporary spaces is better than having no service at all. The transformation has changed not only where services are provided, but also how they are experienced.”
Rents rising tenfold is devastating. It’s not just a choice to work from tents; it’s economic desperation forcing people into impossible conditions.
The resilience of these professionals is staggering. Operating clinics and offices in tents despite the heat and lack of privacy shows incredible determination.