Piles of bricks, metal sheets and pieces of wood, are all that remains of tens of Palestinian homes in the Ezbet Abed Rabu (Abed Rabu Ranch) neighborhood, east of Jabaliya town in the northern Gaza Strip. “There is nothing left for us to live for — the house was lost and the furniture destroyed,” lamented Suad Muhammad Abed Rabu. The Electronic Intifada contributor Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about In Gaza, a "ranch" turned to rubble
RAMALLAH, occuiped West Bank (IPS) - Reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah is looking increasingly problematic as the two groups exchange serious accusations of treason, torture and extrajudicial killings. Tension between the two groups has escalated in the wake of Israel’s 22-day military assault on Gaza. Read more about Fatah, Hamas trade accusations
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - With Gaza’s sewerage system on the verge of collapse, a top water engineer has warned of the risk of groundwater contamination in the enclave, making clean water scarcer than it already is. Gaza is particularly vulnerable to groundwater contamination since its sandy desert soil easily absorbs water — or sewage from leaking sewage pipes. Compounding the risk is the fact that groundwater is relatively near the surface, and wells dug to access it tend to be shallow. Read more about Sewage may contaminate Gaza drinking water
My wife Linda and I went back to Beirut, Lebanon recently to visit the American Community School that I graduated from in the 1950s. One of the counselors at the school, an American named David Bakis, has started a project to bring some cheer into the lives of children in the Palestinian refugee camps near Beirut. No easy task. Curtis Bell writes from the United States. Read more about The children of Shatila: no future and no past
There are many stories. Each account — each murdered individual, each wounded person, each burned-out and broken house, each shattered window, trashed kitchen, strewn item of clothing, bedroom turned upside down, bullet and shelling hole in walls, offensive Israeli army graffiti — is important. Eva Bartlett writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Every family has a story, here are some of them
TELAVIV (IRIN) - The Israeli emergency clinic at the Erez crossing, which opened on the day Israel declared a ceasefire in Gaza (18 January), has closed after treating only five wounded Palestinians. The original purpose of the clinic, according to press releases, was to provide emergency care and evacuate those needing further care to hospitals in Israel. Read more about Israeli clinic closes after treating five Palestinians
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Gaza will need years to recover from the devastating Israeli assault, says Katharina Ritz, head of mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Israel’s 22-day assault left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead, and decimated much of the coastal territory’s infrastructure. Read more about "Gaza will take years to recover"
Since the ceasefire was enacted, I have toured throughout Gaza to document some stories and accounts. Although I wrote many articles, I decided to focus on the untold stories of the war: the brutal massacre of thousands of chickens. The Electronic Intifada contributor Sameh A. Habeeb writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Were chickens firing rockets?
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IRIN) - Israel says 453 trucks entered Gaza 18-23 January, but only about half of them carried humanitarian aid — not nearly enough for 1.5 million Gazans, say United Nations agencies and international aid groups. “The donors and the general public have mobilized from all over the world but the aid is stuck outside Gaza,” said John Ging, head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza. Read more about Aid reaching Gaza, but is it enough?
UNITEDNATIONS (IPS) - The president of the United Nations General Assembly was a last-minute no-show at the UN’s annual ceremony commemorating the Holocaust, following an intense lobbying campaign by pro-Israel organizations to have him removed from the program. Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann had come under fire for his harsh criticisms of Israeli policies, leading to suspicions that his failure to deliver a scheduled speech at the event was due to political considerations. Read more about Gaza tensions shadow UN Holocaust ceremony
