GAZA, (PIC)
In a worn-out tent near Khan Yunis, Mohammed Tayseer no longer sleeps on the cold sand as he has been used to for two years. A simple wooden bed, made from neglected aid shipping planks, now separates his body from a ground swarming with rats and rodents. The man says that sleep has changed a little, “one can finally rest,” after the sand and filth were his companions during the long nights of displacement.
This bed is not an ordinary product, but rather part of a new reality imposed by the Israeli restrictions on the entry of building materials into the Gaza Strip, where carpenters resort to scrap wood and pallets, the wooden bases used to transport goods, to manufacture basic furniture for families displaced by the war of genocide. Alternatives from the heart of scarcity
In a modest workshop in the south of the Strip, carpenters dismantle these planks to reshape them into beds, closets, and shelves. Mohammed Wafi, 34, a carpenter from Khan Yunis, says that these pallets have become one of the few available sources of wood with the entry of limited aid trucks.
Wafi, who has worked in the profession for 16 years, adds that the demand for furniture increased with the expansion of displacement camps, as residents look for the minimum requirements of life inside the tents, adding, “people just want something to lift their belongings off the ground, especially with the (spread of) rats and cockroaches.”
However, even this alternative furniture is no longer cheap, with the prices of basic materials rising sharply. He explains that the price of a kilo of nails jumped from five shekels before the war to between 100 and 130 shekels currently, while the prices of hinges and assembly tools have increased many times over. Rodents are spreading in the displacement camps, causing increasing diseases and health problems. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had warned of the deterioration of health conditions in the Strip, while the World Health Organization announced the registration of more than 17,000 infections due to rodents and parasites since the beginning of the year 2026.
The Israeli occupation authorities prevent the entry of construction materials, including wood, claiming they are dual-use. The Israeli Government Activities Coordination Unit in the Territories did not respond to requests for comment regarding these restrictions, despite previously confirming that it facilitates the entry of aid.
In another workshop, Adnan Ajjour works on dismantling the same pallets, but for a different purpose: making school seats to replace those destroyed by raids or used as shelter centers.
Ajjour says that the shortage of wood forced him to rely entirely on these materials, which he obtains from relief organizations or intermediaries, in exchange for only the manufacturing fee. Primitive workshops
Innovation is not limited to wood, as metal structures are made from war debris or the remains of destroyed agricultural greenhouses, and are welded by hand in light of the shortage of equipment and its high prices.
He adds that work has returned to primitive methods due to the destruction of workshops and power outages, as generators are operated for limited hours daily, at a cost of about 8,000 shekels per month, compared to half a shekel per kilowatt before the war.
In a workshop that combines carpentry and blacksmithing, Ammar Abu Sharkh makes what looks like a miniature infrastructure to serve the displaced, from toilet rooms and mobile sinks, all from recycled materials. He says that the greatest demand is concentrated on primitive toilets for shelter centers, made with structures capable of carrying large water tanks, along with simple sinks that help families cook and clean inside the tents. He adds that these solutions, despite their primitivity, help residents manage their daily lives in the absence of basic services.
Despite a ceasefire agreement coming into effect in October 2025, after two years of war, living and health conditions are still deteriorating for about 2,400,000 Palestinians in the Strip, including 1,400,000 displaced persons.
Under this reality, it does not seem that carpenters are only making furniture, but rather they are reshaping the minimum life necessities, using what remains of the wood of war, in a daily attempt to face nothingness.