Ramallah, August 21, 2014—Israeli soldiers repeatedly used Ahmad Abu Raida, 17, as a human shield for five days while he was held hostage during Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Ahmad, from Khuza’a, near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, was just 16 years old when he was taken from his family on July 23. He was forced …
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On Wednesday, a UN humanitarian aid convoy entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt for the first time since the blockade was placed on the territory in 2007. The World Food Program (WFP) said that the convoy, which entered the Palestinian enclave through the Rafah crossing, carried food for around 150,000 and is expected to support them for five days. The …
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On Tuesday, Qatar hailed the ceasefire which ended 50 days of conflict in and around the Gaza Strip, and offered to provide funds for reconstruction efforts. Qatar is a key backer of Hamas and hosts the Palestinian movement’s exiled leader Khaled Meshaal. On Tuesday, it paid tribute to “the resistance and the sacrifices” of Palestinians in seven weeks of conflict …
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On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas spoke with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal as renewed fighting continued in the Gaza Strip following the failure of the Egyptian-brokered truce deal. The two spoke in Doha, where Meshaal is currently operating from, and were hosted by the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, an important supporter of Hamas, the QNA news …
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On Friday, Israeli warplanes hit targets across the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians, after the three-day truce deal ended. The conflict reared its ugly head again after negotiators failed to extend the ceasefire beyond 05:00 GMT. Egypt, which has been trying to broker a truce between the Palestinians and Israelis, insisted that the negotiations were still making progress, even while …
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International non-governmental charity Save the Children on Wednesday placed a full-page advert in several British newspapers, listing names of the 373 Palestinian children killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza as a part of their campaign for a permanent truce in the region. The black-and-white advertisement carries the names given out by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and United Nations …
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By Jehan Alfarra The third recipient of the annual Gaza Oxford Brookes Scholarship founded in the aftermath of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2009 is fighting for his life in Al-Shifa Hospital after his home was bombed by Israeli forces in the latest assault on the Gaza Strip. Hassan Alhallaq’s 8 months pregnant wife, his 2 young children, his mother …
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On Monday, Turkey declared three days of nationwide mourning for Palestinian victims of Israeli military aggression in Gaza and denounced the assault as a “massacre”. Turkey and Israel have diplomatic ties, but relations between the two were downgraded after Israeli commando raid on an activist ship from Turkey being sent to the Gaza Strip in 2010. In televised comments from …
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Article and photos by Mohammed Omer in Gaza July 9, 2014: I am writing this as ambulance and rescue crews continue to search for bodies. Among the ones they have uncovered so far are those of 4-year-old Mohammed Nawasra, whose body was found underneath the ruins of his home in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, his …
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On Tuesday, Turkey urged Israel to “immediately” stop its assault on the Gaza Strip, following its lethal air campaign on Gaza. “We are calling on Israel to immediately halt its attacks on Gaza”, the Turkish foreign ministry said in its statement. It also urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, to get involved and warn Israel to relinquish its …
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