Yousef M. Aljamal

If he hadn’t been killed by Israeli forces, my elder brother would have celebrated his 27th birthday this week.

Needing a simple, life-saving operation with equipment not available in Gaza hospitals, Yousef Aljamal’s sister died because Israel denied her access to a Jerusalem hospital.

My mother recently spent 32 days in the West Bank, where she was born and raised. A day for every year she has lived in Gaza.

Despite it all, hope is on the rainbow, writes Yousef M. Aljamal from Gaza, as his mother enjoys a long-awaited reunion with her family in the West Bank.