The UN predicted Gaza would be unlivable by 2020. They were right.

Posted on January 1, 2020
Sunset in Gaza. Photo by Gisha

While revelers around the world are making new year’s resolutions for 2020, in the Gaza Strip, a different kind of assessment is taking place as Palestinians try to determine whether, or how, they can survive the next 10 years. In … Continue reading →

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Tires barred from entering Gaza for 19 months and counting

Posted on December 30, 2019
A tire shop in Gaza. Photo by Asmaa Elkhaldi

Israel has barred entrance of tires to the Gaza Strip since April 2018, in a sweeping and punitive response to burning of tires at the Great March of Return demonstrations, which began late March 2018. According to recent media reports, … Continue reading →

Posted in economic development, Human rights, Movement of goods into Gaza | Leave a comment

Grounds for denial: No cell phone

Posted on December 18, 2019

The trials and tribulations of a 31-year-old mother of three were partly alleviated last week following a petition against Israel’s decision to deny her travel from Gaza to the West Bank. Born and raised in the West Bank, the woman … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Human rights, Movement of people out of Gaza, Seperation Policy | Leave a comment

I’m a Neighbor of the Gaza Family Israel Killed Accidentally. I Don’t Know How to Tell My Kids They’ll Never Be Safe

Posted on November 19, 2019
A street damaged by an Israeli air strike. Gaza, 2014. Photo by Eman Mohammed

At 5:45 A.M. last Tuesday the phone rang; it was the man who drives my children to school. Good morning, he said. Today there is no school. Why? I asked. They assassinated Baha Abu al-Ata, and the Education Ministry announced … Continue reading →

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COGAT’s threat

Posted on November 14, 2019

In what is now part of its social media commonplace, a post published yesterday on the Arabic Facebook page of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) repeats a false, but familiar, trope: The Gaza Strip has enjoyed … Continue reading →

Posted in economic development, General, Human rights, Movement of people out of Gaza, scale of control | Leave a comment

From Gaza with Lulav, part 2

Posted on October 7, 2019

Ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, several Israeli media outlets reported that tens of thousands of lulav holders (made of palm leaves and used in Jewish liturgy) produced in Gaza were cleared for exit from the Strip via Kerem … Continue reading →

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To the new Knesset members

Posted on October 3, 2019

Today members of Israel’s 22nd parliament, the Knesset, were sworn in. The Israeli parliamentary system has been more or less paralyzed for several months, and whether or not the possibility of a third election materializes, there are pressing matters to … Continue reading →

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The teenage runaway stranded in Gaza

Posted on September 25, 2019
Youth in Gaza. Photo by Asmaa Elkhaldi

The structural inequalities inherent to the occupation are manifest in Palestinians’ restricted access to family, livelihood, education and healthcare; but also in the freedom to dream, to learn, to make mistakes. For teenagers in Gaza and the West Bank, these … Continue reading →

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The illusion of disengagement

Posted on September 12, 2019
view of Gaza from the sea, 2019. Photo by Asmaa Elkhaldi

Around this time 14 years ago, Israel completed the removal of its military bases and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. Many believe that with the implementation of the ‘disengagement plan’, Israel unburdened itself of Gaza and no longer bears … Continue reading →

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Learning in shifts

Posted on September 4, 2019
New school year in Gaza. Photo by Asmaa Elkhaldi

About 600,000 children started a new school year in Gaza last week. It might sound like the start of an elementary math problem, but the fact is that 737 schools in the Strip operate out of only 523 structures. Two … Continue reading →

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