gisha

Young Palestinians Mohammed Ehsen, 21, Bassem Abu Ubaid, 33 , who had their legs amputated following injuries during the Great Return March, Gaza Strip, on June 3, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

How to tell the stories of the siege when you cannot enter Gaza

In a new podcast, I hoped to capture the impacts of the Gaza blockade that are mostly invisible to the outside world. There was just one problem: I can’t go there. By Lital Firestone When I first dreamed up the idea of doing a podcast about Gaza, I hoped to use the medium to get answers to…

By +972 Magazine September 3, 2019

Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt through the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip after it was opened by Egyptian authorities for humanitarian cases, on February 7, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israel’s ‘humanitarian’ offer to Tlaib made me cringe. Here’s why

As the director of an organization that promotes the right to freedom of movement in Gaza, when I heard that Israel is offering you the chance to make a ‘humanitarian’ visit to your family, I felt a familiar cringe. An open letter to Reps. Tlaib and Omar. By Tania Hary Dear Representative Omar and Representative Tlaib,…

By +972 Magazine August 16, 2019

Palestinian men sit in the rubble of a destroyed home in the Nusseirat Refugee Camp, which was shelled by Israeli forces a few hours earlier, Gaza Strip, May 6, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

Stories of devastatingly normal suffering in Gaza

I got an email from a man asking if we could help him and his family escape Gaza if war broke out. It seems so reasonable, until you realize there is no precedent for evacuating Palestinian civilians in time of war. By Tania Hary A popular social media figure from Gaza tweeted yesterday that if…

By +972 Magazine May 6, 2019

Latest

Palestinian Christians hold candles lit by the holy fire, which was delivered from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, on April 20, 2014. (Wissam Nassar/Flash90)

Israel bars hundreds of Palestinian Christians from traveling on Easter

In an unprecedented decision, Israeli authorities are denying hundreds of Palestinian Christians the right to travel to Jerusalem for the holiday, while barring all movement between the West Bank and Gaza. Thousands of Christian pilgrims from all over the world are expected to travel to Jerusalem for Easter celebrations. For Christian Palestinians who live no more than hours…

By Henriette Chacar April 19, 2019

Ahlam Abu Musa, 20, was diagnosed with cancer in May 2018. The treatment she needs is not available in the strip, but the Israeli army has denied her multiple requests to exit through the Erez Crossing. (Amjad Yaghi)

Palestinian battling cancer is denied exit from Gaza for treatment

The medical care Ahlam Abu Musa needs isn’t available through Gaza’s debilitated health system, but the Israeli army has denied all four of her exit requests. By Amjad Yaghi Ahlam Abu Musa was diagnosed with bone cancer last May. The 20-year-old from Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, has since tried to obtain…

By +972 Magazine February 8, 2019

Illustrative photo of a crop-duster spraying agricultural lands with chemical agents. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

Israel spraying herbicides inside Gaza violates int’l law, rights groups say

In an urgent letter to Israeli military officials, three human rights groups demand that Israel immediately stop spraying the dangerous chemicals into Gaza. The Israeli army is continuing to spray dangerous herbicides on agricultural fields inside the Gaza Strip, three years since +972 Magazine first reported on the practice. This week, three Palestinian and Israeli human rights…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 9, 2019

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, after it was opened for two days by Egyptian authorities, May 11, 2016. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

‘Gazans need to be able to breathe and feel hope for the future’

It’s impossible to know just how much Israel will loosen its restrictions on goods and movement of people in Gaza as it negotiates with Hamas. What’s clear is that a new approach is needed. Israel and Hamas are in the advanced stages of negotiations over a ceasefire, according to numerous media reports, that, in exchange for an…

By Edo Konrad August 6, 2018

Israeli snipers seen on the border with Gaza during the Great March of Return, March 30, 2018. (IDF Spokesperson)

Top court hears first major challenge to IDF’s live fire in Gaza

Human rights groups argue the army’s open-fire regulations violate international law. The government claims the use of deadly force is justified — even against unarmed demonstrators. Israel’s High Court of Justice heard on Monday a major challenge to the IDF’s rules of engagement, which permit the use of live fire against demonstrators who pose no danger…

By Joshua Leifer April 30, 2018

Palestinian children fill jerrycans with drinking water in the Rafah Refugee Camp in the southern Gaza Strip, June 11, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Three years after Protective Edge, Gaza is in free fall

As internal Palestinian rifts take a heavy toll on Gazans and as shifting geopolitics in the Gulf affect quality of life in Deir al-Balah, Israel is again missing an opportunity to harness the future of its relationship with Gaza. By Amir Rotem The ceasefire agreement that ended Operation Protective Edge went into effect on August…

By +972 Magazine August 25, 2017

Palestinians cross into Gaza at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza on September 3, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

IDF bans laptops, food, toiletries for Palestinians leaving Gaza

Palestinians are no longer allowed to bring sandwiches with them when exiting the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has instituted a travel ban on food, toiletries and most electronic devices for Palestinians exiting the Gaza Strip. The army sent the new directive to Gisha, an Israeli NGO that promotes freedom of movement for Palestinians, a day…

By Orly Noy August 16, 2017

Palestinian kids seen at the entrance to a house in a flooded area following heavy rainfall, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 15, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Gazans being held hostage by Israeli, PA gamesmanship

The Israeli cabinet decided to accept Mahmoud Abbas’ request that the electricity supply to Gaza be cut. The army has warned against doing so, but it seems that for Israel, Abbas’ interests are more important than people’s lives. Who says there is no coordination between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority? On Sunday evening,…

By Orly Noy June 12, 2017

Basman Alashi, executive director of el-Wafa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, comforts a patient hours after an Israeli projectile struck the hospital's fourth floor Friday evening, demolishing a wall and damaging doors and windows. (photo: Joe Catron)

The ‘silent’ war on Gaza’s hospitals

The director of a hospital destroyed during ‘Protective Edge’ has managed to rebuild part of the facility. Now he has about a month’s worth of fuel left to keep its back-up generators running. Without them, the hospital faces another complete shutdown. At the height of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, El Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital was…

By Samer Badawi May 7, 2017

Palestinian farmers harvest watermelon from a field in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, May 8, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israeli planes spray herbicides inside Gaza for fourth time this year

Israeli planes have been reported spraying herbicides over land inside the Gaza Strip on four occasions in 2017, including twice in the last two days. Israeli planes sprayed herbicides inside the Gaza Strip for the second day running on Wednesday and the fourth time this year, according to local farmers and Israeli rights NGO Gisha. A video…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland April 5, 2017