Just after leaving the city of Deir al-Balah, south of Gaza City, our eyes were caught by the beautiful neighbourhood of Abu Holi. Palm trees, olive and citrus orchards and green houses flank the road. A shepherd stands with some sheep between the trees, where a low, rusty metal fence surrounds a calf and a cow chewing leaves. In the heart of such a romantic view, thousands of Palestinian civilians face daily torture at the two sides of Abu Holi checkpoint, which divides the Gaza Strip into two parts. Hundreds of Palestinian taxis, trucks and civilian vehicles snake along the dug-up sandy road of the ill-fated Abu Holi. Watchtowers covered with military-green nets border the checkpoint, where the crying of children is escalating along with the endless queue of cars. Sami Abu Salem writes from Gaza. Read more about Torture of Palestinians in the Heart of Romantic Landscape
Returning home to Gaza, I had to fly first to Cairo, then cross the Sinai desert by coach to reach the Rafah border crossing — a journey that takes 6 hours at least, as Palestinians are not allowed to use Ben Gurion airport which is merely an hour’s drive from Gaza). The Gaza Strip is served by a modern international airport — built during the Oslo years — but this has remained closed since late 2000, and now sports a bulldozed runway, courtesy of the Israeli army. Dr. Mona El-Farra writes about her long journey from Cairo to Gaza. Read more about The Story of the Seven Gates
I am not a politician or a political analyst to write an analysis about Palestinian people’s life under 36 years of Israeli occupation. I am an activist in social and health work, I am one who has experienced and witnessed many acts of aggression, violence and injustice by the Israeli army against my people. Read more about A message from Gaza
“It’s past midnight and the only sound is the ceiling fan pushing the muggy summer air around and around, while no matter how hard I wash my skin still retains a faint layer of dirt, dust, and sweat. The fan drowns out the sound of bullets, mostly, so you can sleep in our apartment now cloaked is some illusion of normalcy. We got the fans a couple of weeks ago, when the heat became unbearable and we were feeling rich.” ISM activist Laura Gordon writes from Rafah. Read more about Rafah, home of the strongest people in the world
My 5-member Italian plastic surgery team wrapped up their final two operations on Thursday afternoon two hours behind schedule, which was not too bad, considering we were working 15 hour days on average for a week. By our third night in the Gaza Strip, the nocturnal shooting and explosions from the nearby Israeli settlement of Dugit and the Khan Younis refugee camp no longer woke us up. A controlled exhaustion had taken over and even the war outside was merely an occasional distraction. Steve Sosebee writes from Gaza. Read more about Report from the medical front lines in Gaza
I am writing from gaza, where I have been for the last three days to coordinate a volunteer program with youth groups here. Compared to the West Bank, Gaza is not so popular for internationals to come and work. Read more about Hi from Gaza
The killing on Monday of 14 Palestinians, including 8 children, in the al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza city was another escalation in the Israeli military assault against the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The missile strike against the apartment building in a densely populated neighbourhood in the city was the latest attack in the Israeli government’s official political assassination policy. Read more about Killing protected civilians with impunity
In the most recent information obtained by PCHR, it is clear that previous information published regarding the victims of the assassination attack in Gaza city three days ago was incorrect. The discovery of three bodies indicates that the work of the Palestinian Civil Defence and rescue teams was halted without completing the search for the victims. Read more about PCHR: most recent information Gaza bombing