Rami Almeghari

Since the split between the Fatah and Hamas factions deepened after the latter stymied foreign-backed efforts to overthrow it in 2007 following its election victory the previous year, there has been much talk of restoring Palestinian unity. Such reconciliation has however so far eluded all efforts. Some analysts think it may have a better chance now. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Jamila Hammouda, a mother of five small children, hopes that she will be reunited with her family in Cairo, Egypt. Hammouda, her husband and their children were waiting on the Gaza side of the Rafah terminal crossing with Egypt, where Palestinians in Gaza have queued up after Egyptian authorities reopened the crossing “indefinitely.” Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

As news was released of Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla and rising casualties among the passengers, the mood at Gaza’s modest seaport grew somber. Hundreds of civilians including governmental and non-governmental representatives, activists, and ordinary Palestinians were waiting anxiously to welcome those on board the Flotilla. Rami Almeghari writes from the occupied Gaza Strip.

On 16 May, bulldozers demolished 20 houses in the al-Barahma neighborhood west of Rafah in the southern occupied Gaza Strip. This tragic scene has been repeated all too many times in Palestine’s history, but what made this different, and a subject of great controversy and outcry, is that it was carried out by the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA), backed by police from the Hamas government. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Naima Akkawi, a 40-year-old Moroccan native, is finally back home in Gaza with her husband Mahmoud Jouda and her two young children, Riwan (5) and Rimas (3) after an enforced absence of 10 years. During that long and agonizing separation, Mahmoud and Naima did all they could to get back together through official channels but it was all to no avail. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

As the sun set on a clear evening in Gaza City, Suleiman Baraka was setting up his telescope on the rooftop of the French Cultural Center as two dozen visitors waited anxiously to gaze into the stars. It was a rare occasion to break away — at least momentarily — from the siege on the ground in the Gaza Strip. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

It was not a chemical plant, nor a nuclear facility, nor a manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction. But almost all the rubble of the entirely destroyed factory was covered in white, with white chunks everywhere. These were pieces of cheese, butter and yoghurt — some of the products made by the Dalloul dairy factory in southern Gaza City. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

In the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, an ordinary family has raised a talented daughter. Her talent is not something widespread in Gaza or even elsewhere in the world. Mayada al-Hallaj, 25, currently studying sociology at university, has also been a mime artist and teacher for the last few years. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Saleh Zeidan, Gaza-based leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), spoke to The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari about chances for peace in the region following the latest failures and setbacks in United States peace initiatives. This is part of an occasional series of interviews with various political figures and factions in Palestine.

Rami Abu al-Sheikh’s parents and siblings still remember how caring and tender their son was before he was killed during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter. Rami was 27 years old and was one of hundreds of Gaza police personnel killed by Israeli air strikes during the 23-day assault. He was killed at the main Gaza Strip police station located on Salah al-din Street, the territory’s main road. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.