Under relentless bombardment and suffocating summer heat, displaced Palestinians in Gaza are turning to the Mediterranean as their only escape from life inside nylon tents that have become unbearable. With temperatures soaring past 40°C, families pour onto the beaches in search of relief from the sweltering conditions, though the sea’s salty waves offer only fleeting comfort.

For many, the struggle is both physical and existential. “Where can we run? Death is chasing us from one side, and war from the other,” said Abu Shadi Affaneh, who shares a flimsy shelter with 45 relatives. The tents, he explained, trap suffocating humidity and heat, leaving them gasping for air with no fans, no water, and no respite from the sun.

Mothers, too, voice despair at the impossible choice between suffocating tents and the perilous outdoors. “The heat is killing us, and we don’t know what to do,” said Um Mohammed Abu Al-Kas, using a plastic sheet as a makeshift fan. She described the invasion of insects and rats into their shelters, depriving families of sleep on top of hunger and thirst.

With Gaza enduring its worst heatwave of the year, the humanitarian catastrophe deepens. The collapse of water infrastructure has left over two million people vulnerable to dehydration, while bombardment continues to drive families from the ruins of their homes. The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that soaring temperatures now compound an already catastrophic crisis, making survival in Gaza an ordeal of fire, fear, and thirst.