As the unforgiving heat of summer descends on Gaza, nearly a million displaced Palestinians find themselves battling not just war, but the scorching sun. In makeshift camps stretching from Khan Younis to Al-Mawasi, nylon tents offer no shelter from the suffocating temperatures. “The tent turns into an oven,” says Suad Al-Qadi, a mother of five. “We run outside just to breathe.”

This marks the second summer Gazans endure displacement under relentless siege. The sweltering heat brings with it thirst, flies, disease, and despair. “Summer is death,” says Mohammed Abu Anza. “Winter in these tents was hard, but this, this is unbearable.”

Even so-called “safe zones” like Al-Mawasi have become death traps. Despite being declared “humanitarian areas” by the Israeli military, these zones are bombed regularly, killing civilians sheltering from a war that has claimed over 51,000 lives and left thousands more buried beneath rubble.

Still, among the heat, hunger, and horror, displaced Gazans cling to fragments of hope. Some dream of a sturdy tent, others of returning to the rubble of their homes. “We’ve been let down before,” Abu Anza says. “But we still believe peace might come.”