Gaza Strip

23/04/2013 / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Gaza police, or fashion police?

 
After outlawing bicycles and hookahs, Gaza police are now looking to ban men from wearing low-cut jeans and having long hair. For local youths, many of whom already see Gaza as an open-air prison, these new restrictions are the last straw. Read more…
Contributors

Mohamed Sobh

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20/11/2012 / GAZA STRIP

Gazan paramedic: “The hardest part is when I’m unable to save children”

 
Since the start of Israel's “Pillar of Defense” operation on November 14, the number of dead and injured keeps growing. Videos shared on social networks show that hospitals in the Gaza strip are stretched to the breaking point. Our Observer, a paramedic, tells us about working under the bombs. Read more...
 
Contributors

SamihSheikh

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19/11/2012 / GAZA STRIP

Surreal video shows sports practise in Gaza while bombs fall

Contributors

Team Observers

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16/11/2012 / ISRAEL - GAZA

Gaza offensive: Palestinians react on social networking sites

 
It’s a sign of the times: never before had the start of a military operation been announced on Twitter, until the Israeli Army decided to do just that when it attacked Gaza on Wednesday. Ever since, the Army’s communications department has been tweeting and uploading videos onto YouTube non-stop. Hamas activists also have been reacting on the Internet, but to a far lesser degree. Just as with the armed conflict, it seems the two sides are not fighting on a level playing field. Read more...
 
Contributors

Team Observers

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21/09/2011 / MIDDLE EAST

The bid for Palestinian statehood: our Observers in Gaza and the West Bank react

 
On Friday, the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will officially present a bid for a Palestinian state to be granted full membership of the United Nations. With only days to go before the vote, we asked our Observers in the West Bank and Gaza to tell us about their hopes and worries. Read more…
 
Contributors

Abedalla sharshara

Ariel Woolf

Mahmoud Omar

Hala Mohamed

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04/07/2011 / GAZA STRIP

Gaza-bound flotilla participants braced for ‘tear gas and snipers’

No one expected that the “Freedom Flotilla II: Stay Human” would have a seamless run to the Gaza strip. Sure enough, in the latest of a series of hurdles that flotilla organisers have had to overcome, Greek coastguards halted a Canadian boat bound for Gaza shortly after it attempted to leave the Mediterranean island of Crete. As many wonder if the mission to Gaza will ever launch, our Observers tell us about the preparation that went into a trip that may never be. Read more...

Contributors

Medea Benjamin

Robert Naiman

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08/04/2011 / ISRAEL

Israel deploys ‘Iron dome’ missile defence as rocket attacks escalate

 
Israel has deployed a new missile defence system dubbed ‘iron dome’ to intercept Hamas rockets, amid a month of attacks and counter attacks between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza strip that both sides fear could rapidly deteriorate into all-out war.
Contributors

Team Observers

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12/01/2011 / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Winter is harsh for Gaza’s poorest

 
Two years after the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, reconstruction of damaged property seems to have ground to a halt. In the rainy season, the peope of Gaza struggle in their precarious homes. Read more...
Contributors

Lina Al-Sharif

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31/08/2010 / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Palestinian woman breaks taboo to cycle across Gaza strip

In Gaza, an unspoken rule bans women from riding bicycles after they have hit puberty. But last Saturday, one young Palestinian woman decided to defy the taboo, sparking smiles - and a few threats - from fellow Gazans. Read her account and see the photos...

Contributors

Asmaa AlGhoul

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26/07/2010 / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Gaza bans women from smoking hookahs

Leaders of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip announced a ban on July 18 forbidding women from smoking hookahs (water-pipes) in public places, deeming the practice "immodest". Read more...

Contributors

Hakeem Bashir

Asma Shaker

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