GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has begun removing 600,000 metric tons of rubble and debris left over from Israel’s winter invasion of the Gaza Strip. More than six months later, the most deadly threat to civilians emanates from unexploded ordnance in rubble and underground. Read more about Cleaning up explosives in Gaza 

BETHLEHEM, occupied West Bank (IPS) - In her office at the Bethlehem women’s counseling center, Khawla al-Azraq recounts her memories from Israeli prison as vividly as if they were yesterday: the routine physical and psychological abuse, the nightly room searches, the hunger strikes and other collective actions in protest against their conditions, and the intense study sessions with her fellow prisoners. Read more about Prison strengthens Palestinian women 

AL-BUREIJ, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Tens of thousands of children in Gaza are still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Israel’s three-week bombing in December-January. Several crisis counseling teams run by international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been carrying out intervention programs aimed at helping Gaza’s most vulnerable put the pieces of their lives back together. Read more about Traumatized children struggle to rise again 

CAIRO (IPS) - The Egyptian government is now accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of links to Palestinian resistance groups and of establishing “global networks.” Recent months have seen a host of government accusations — which critics say are fabricated — against opposition groups it claims have ties with Hamas, Hizballah, and the ever-elusive al-Qaeda. “The government is making up so many charges of ‘terror networks’ and ‘Islamist cells’ that it’s hard to keep track of them all,” Islamist lawyer Montasser al-Zayat told IPS. Read more about Egyptian opposition branded "terrorist"  

In a bid to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during Israel’s winter assault on Gaza, the Israeli government has launched a campaign to clamp down on human rights groups, both in Israel and abroad. It has begun by targeting one of the world’s leading rights organizations, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), as well as a local group of dissident army veterans, Breaking the Silence, which last month published the testimonies of 26 combat soldiers who served in Gaza. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel moves to declare rights groups as foreign agents 

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Saleh wonders how he will pay for a replacement car part he bought from the tunnels black market. “It cost more than $1,000. Before the siege, it would have been 500 to 1,000 shekels (roughly $125-$250), at most $250. Anyway, I had to buy it; you need to maintain the car when you use it all the time.” The father of five drives one of Gaza’s many run-down taxis, working around the clock but earning just enough to get by. Read more about Gaza's cars barely running