The international delegation of the Gaza Freedom March originally planned to arrive in Gaza on 29 December 2009 to join a march against the Israeli blockade together with residents of Gaza two days later. Instead, most of its delegates remained in Cairo, having been blocked from going to the Rafah border by the Egyptian government, and instead marched against the Egyptian blockade on Gaza. Sharat G. Lin gives an account of the Gaza Freedom March from Cairo for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza Freedom March marches in Cairo against blockade 

Fathiya Abu Jbara lost her husband and two sons in an Israeli air strike on the family home during Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip last winter. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reported on the strike a few days after the attack and one year later, visits the family again to see how they are coping. Read more about A year after losing a father and sons, a Gaza family copes 

Approximately one year ago, Israel unleashed its assault on the Gaza Strip — amidst its ongoing siege and occupation — killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the attacks, most of them soldiers. The attacks sparked mass demonstrations around the world in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The following images are from around the one year anniversary, when many groups around the world again led demonstrations to show their continued solidarity with Palestine. Read more about Photostory: Commemorating the assault on Gaza 

Though I have lived most of my life in and around Chicago, it has never been my complete home. My sisters and I were born as first-generation Palestinian-Americans coming from Kuwait and for this reason our lives in Chicago always felt temporary — we were only supposed to stay until the Gulf War was over, we finished school, the occupation ended, the siege was broken, etc. The only accepted rhetoric about our presence in America was and continues to be, “This is not our home, we are from Gaza.” Dana Elborno writes from Cairo. Read more about Unbreakable in Cairo 

Fatima Mohammed Yassin, 49, is a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bilin in the occupied West Bank. In spite of Israel’s occupation and construction of its wall in the West Bank, including on Bilin’s farm land, Yassin and her husband continue to work their land on a daily basis. Jody McIntyre spoke to her for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "I hope that I die on my land" 

While it was deeply disappointing for the nearly 1,400 delegates with the Gaza Freedom March who came from 43 countries that they could not physically be in Gaza today, this was a momentous and historic gathering of justice-loving people from every corner of the globe, united by their common desire to see Gaza free. On the eve of a new year, the crowd vowed to do everything in their power to make 2010 the year that the siege of Gaza is finally and forever broken. Sayed Dhansay reports from Cairo. Read more about Gaza Freedom March activists target Egypt's complicity 

With and the Egyptian government’s new underground wall and the closure of the Rafah crossing — Gaza’s sole exit to the outside world — Egypt’s complicity shines more than ever. The following are exclusive images of Egyptian authorities building the new underground wall on the border with Gaza. Read more about Photostory: Egypt further encaging Gaza