Senior officials said on Monday that Turkey has been tightening its restrictions on Hamas leaders and activists in the country, deporting dozens and preventing others from entering.
After Israel's 11-day assault of Gaza during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr last year, customary festivities are a painful reminder for the dozens of Gazan families who lost loved ones. The New Arab speaks with two survivors about how they have coped.
"We insisted on celebrating this year's feast to prove to Israel and the world that we love life and hope to live in peace and security," said an elderly man whose granddaughter was killed by Israel during its war on the Gaza Strip last year.
For many Gazans, Eid al-Fitr is a harsh reminder of their agonising conditions. Plagued by unemployment, families have had to choose which of the festival's necessities they would go without or find cheaper, second-hand alternatives.
Israeli naval forces arrested six Palestinian fishermen on Wednesday and sabotaged their boat near Rafah's coast in the south of the besieged Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
The Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Gaza on Tuesday announced the discovery of a 4,500-year-old statue, called "Anat", that originates from the Canaanite period.
"No one can imagine how much pain we are going through all these years, especially since the killers are still free and can kill more children in Gaza," one of the victim's fathers had said to The New Arab.
For many years, Emad Abu Khadija, a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem, has shrugged off attempts to buy his small cafe by the Israeli authorities or settlers despite their huge financial offer.
