Eva Bartlett

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - “If we had money we’d get married right away,” says Samir, 23. He has found his bride, but not the money to hold the wedding. The Israeli siege imposed shortly after Hamas’s election in early 2006 has ruled out marriage for many. Palestinians traditionally marry young, between 18 and 25, but more and more now pass their mid-twenties single.

”This is the first time I’ve returned here since my friends were killed,” Ahmad Hammad says. He stands at the edge of a vacant plot and gestures to its far end which lies over 1 km from the border separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. Hammad, 24, recalls the day two years ago when three of his friends were torn apart by an Israeli-fired surface-to-surface missile. Eva Bartlett writes from the Gaza Strip.

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - For many survivors of the last Israeli war on Gaza, time has not healed their wounds, physical or emotional. Halil Amal Samouni, 10, still suffers vision problems in her right eye. The shrapnel remaining in her head causes her constant pain and she is unable to concentrate at school.

With and the Egyptian government’s new underground wall and the closure of the Rafah crossing — Gaza’s sole exit to the outside world — Egypt’s complicity shines more than ever. The following are exclusive images of Egyptian authorities building the new underground wall on the border with Gaza.

On 15 November at 8:30am, a number of young men went as usual to the land near Gaza’s northern border with Israel planning to catch birds. Amjad Hassanain, 27, was among the bird-catchers hunting near the border fence when Israeli soldiers began shooting. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada.

BEIT HANOUN, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Formed in September 2007, Local Initiative has a number of other mandates: promoting volunteerism; reaching out to marginalized families living in the regions along the Green Line border between Israel and Gaza; giving psycho-social support to children scarred by Israeli military attacks and shooting; financially assisting children with martyred parents; and improving the role of women and youth in society.

On 4 October, Ashraf Abu Suleiman, a 16-year-old from Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, went to the northwest coast town of Sudaniya to visit an ill school friend. The teen then went to the sea, where he rolled up the legs of his pants, waded into the water and enjoyed the late summer morning. Minutes later, Ashraf was running in blind terror as Israeli soldiers in a gunboat off the coast began shooting at Palestinian fishermen. Eva Bartlett reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

SHEIKH ZAYED, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - On a searing summer morning, workers are adding layers to the mud-brick police station being constructed in Sheikh Zayed, northern Gaza. “We started building on 20 June,” says Mohammed al-Sheikh Eid, a consultant engineer with Gaza’s Ministry of Interior. “Since this is the first time we’ve built something on this scale with mud bricks, we can’t estimate exactly how much longer it will take to complete. Maybe another two months or so.”

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - In the Rimal shopping area of Gaza City, a growing number of Palestinians have resorted to begging. Among them are widows trying to provide for their children, and children themselves begging to contribute to family income. An increasing presence of children selling one-shekel items dominates most Gaza City streets. The children, as young as seven or eight years old, spend their days enticing pedestrians or drivers at stoplights to buy their trinkets.

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - In a backstreet open-air cafe in Gaza late at night, Khaled Harara from the Black Unit Band starts to talk about rap. A phone call interrupts him. “Oh my god, it’s my dad, he will kill me because I’m not home yet.” Not quite the tough image one conjures of rappers. After assuring his father he’s giving an interview, he’s ok to stay.