Palestinians in Gaza poured into the streets of Gaza City on Wednesday to celebrate the signing of a national reconciliation agreement in Cairo that same day. But amidst the high hope was trepidation that unity aspirations would not be realized on the ground.
The five-story building housing the now abandoned Hamdanco sewing factory is filled with machines gathering dust; it used to be the place of employment of 130 workers, including sewers and administrative staff.
Jihad al-Qarra was eagerly anticipating his wedding to Nidal Qdieh later this month. But those plans were destroyed when an Israeli missile hit the Qdieh family home.
As Palestinians were preparing for their weekend this Thursday afternoon, all of a sudden barrages of Israeli artillery fire and air raids by warplanes struck several regions of the Gaza Strip.
Some playing cards and other small items were all that Mahmoud Jalal al-Hilu, 10, left behind when he was killed by an Israeli tank shell on 22 March as he played near his home in the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
Youth protests in Gaza continue to unfold after a call to rally was put out by Palestinian youth calling for an end to political division and for national unity.
Gaza power plant official Derar Abu Sisi went missing in Ukraine earlier this year and is now believed to be held in an Israeli prison. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.
On 2 March Israel announced the complete closure of Karni, the principal commercial crossing into the Gaza Strip, prompting protests by Palestinian traders who rely on the crossing to bring goods into the territory.
Controversy has arisen between the Hamas-led government and the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) during the past few weeks over stalled reconstruction in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
