Guardian of the Walls

WJ #141

“Ma quali sono dunque le cose oscure e indefinite che attraggono l’uomo verso la sua gente, la casa, i ricordi,
nello stesso modo con cui la fonte attira un branco di caprioli smarriti… non so.”
Ghassan Kanafani

Dopo il rapimento di tre adolescenti israeliani, che risiedevano in una colonia della Cisgiordania, da parte di Hamas nell’estate 2014, a luglio Israele entrò nuovamente nella Striscia dichiarando di voler distruggere le basi militari e l’estesa rete di tunnel sotterranei anti-embargo che Hamas aveva costruito segretamente a partire dal 2007. 

In 50 giorni ci furono oltre 2.200 vittime palestinesi e 71 vittime israeliane. Moltissime furono le vittime e i feriti fra i civili palestinesi e centinaia di edifici tra cui ospedali, case e scuole andarono distrutti. Il cessate il fuoco portò al ripristino delle condizioni precedenti, sotto la guida di Hamas, con l’obbligo di garantire maggiori concessioni alla popolazione palestinese, impegno che Israele non ha mai rispettato.

La primavera del 2018 sollevò diverse ondate di protesta nella Striscia al confine con Israele. Migliaia di persone si radunarono per protestare contro l’embargo, la disoccupazione, lo spostamento dell’ambasciata statunitense a Gerusalemme, ma soprattutto la negazione del diritto al ritorno alla loro terra per i Palestinesi esiliati nei campi profughi del 1948. Il movimento nacque in seno alla società civile, ma fu sostenuto da Hamas e represso con forza da Israele. I feriti furono quasi 10mila, con 86 vittime palestinesi a seguito di lanci di rocce e bombe molotov oltre il confine israeliano.

A maggio del 2021 lo sfratto di alcune famiglie dal quartiere di Sheikh Jarrah a Gerusalemme, e l’intervento armato della polizia israeliana nella Spianata delle Moschee, causarono l’inizio di una nuova guerra. Hamas si mosse subito vendicando l’affronto con il lancio di una decina di razzi in direzione di Gerusalemme. Israele reagì bombardando duramente la città di Gaza per 11 giorni in cui 256 palestinesi e 10 israeliani persero la vita.

 

Il reportage

01 – Gaza under attack, Khuza’a, Gaza Strip, 1.8.2014
The Palestinian neighbourhood Khuza’a lies in ruins following bombardment by Israeli forces, Gaza Strip, August 1, 2014. Khuza’a has been cut off from the rest of Gaza Strip and occupied by Israeli soldiers. A large number of residents have been killed and injured, and many homes were destroyed. Most residents fled the Israeli attacks. Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,500 Palestinians in the current offensive, most of them civilians.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/29615/

 

02 – Gaza under attack, Gaza Strip, 26.7.2014
Palestinians walk through a destroyed quarter in Shujayea neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, during a ceasefire, July 26, 2014. During the ceasefire on July 26, many Palestinians went back to Shujayea to inspect the damages together with medics who attempted to rescue injured and collect bodies. Dozens of bodies were collected but many remain as Palestinians do not have all the necessary equipment to dig through the debris. Israeli attacks turned the neighbourhood into a scene of utter devastation, with entire buildings flattened and thousands forced to flee. Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and have injured around 5,000 in the current offensive.
Photographer: **
https://www.activestills.org/image/29385/

 

03 – Gaza under attack, Khuza’a, Gaza Strip, 3.8.2014
Palestinians recover belongings from the Khuza’a neighbourhood following bombardment by Israeli forces, Gaza Strip, August 3, 2014. So far, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,676 Palestinians, including 378 children.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/29655/

 

04 – Gaza Under Attack, Tel al-Hawa, Gaza City, 14.7.2014
Palestinians look at a missile which did not explode during an Israeli airstrike which destroyed the home of Hussam Shamdi the day before, in Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza city, July 14, 2014. Israeli attacks have so far killed more than 180 Palestinians.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/31968/

 

05 – Gaza under attack, Gaza Strip, 24.7.2014
Palestinians prepare the body of a baby killed by an Israeli attack on Beit Hanoun elementary school in Kamal Edwan Hospital’s morgue, Jabalia, Gaza Strip, July 24. The school was being used as a shelter by 800 people. The attack killed at least 17 and injured more than 200 of the displaced civilians. Israeli attacks have killed 788 Palestinians and injured around 5,000 in the current offensive, most of them civilians.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/29253/

 

06 – Gaza under attack, Gaza Strip, 28.7.2014
A relative of one of the children killed earlier in a playground in al-Shati refugee camp mourns at the cemetery, Gaza city, July 28, 2014. Reports indicate that 10 people, mostly children, were killed and 40 injured during the attack which took place on the first day of Eid. Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and injured more than 6,200 in the current offensive, most of them civilians
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/29438/

 

07 – Gaza Aftermath, Gaza City, 4.11.2014
Palestinian school girls walk across a destroyed part of Shujayea neighbourhood, Gaza city, November 4th, 2014. Many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face hard living conditions following the seven-week Israeli offensive during which 2,131 Palestinians were killed, and an estimate of 18,000 housing units have been either destroyed or severely damaged, leaving more than 108,000 people homeless.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/30975/

 

08 – Gaza under attack, Gaza city, 16.5.2021
Palestinians inspect a destroyed residential quarter following bombardment by Israeli forces in Gaza city, Gaza Strip, May 16, 2021. The bombardments targeted residential buildings in the Al-Wehda street in Rimal, one of the most crowded, and affluent, neighbourhoods of Gaza city. So far, 34 bodies have been recovered, among them 21 members from four generations of the al-Qoalak family including 8 children. Dozens of residential buildings have been targeted by the Israeli attacks since the beginning of the offensive.
Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun
https://www.activestills.org/image/46662/

 

09 – Gaza aftermath, Gaza city, 11.2.2015
A bulldozer is used to clear up some of the rubble in one of the destroyed quarters of Shujayea, east of Gaza city, February 11, 2015. Six months after the ceasefire that ended the Israeli 2014 summer offensive, 100, 000 Palestinians are still displaced and many live in very dire conditions. Rebuilding materials are scarce as the Gaza Strip faces restrictions imposed by Israel.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/34316/

 

010 – Balata family, Jabaliya refugee camp, Gaza, 14.9.2014
Photos of ten members of the Balata family seen on the ruins of the home of Abdel Kareem Balata, Jabaliya refugee camp, Gaza Strip, September 14, 2014. 11 members of the family were killed in an Israeli shelling attack on July 29, 2014. Amid the victims were the nearly entire family of Naim Balata, who was killed along with his wife and six of his children. Only Ala Balata, 18, survived out of the family of Naim, who were in fact taking refuge in the home of Naim’s brother, Abdelkarim. Also killed was the daughter of Abdelkarim, Adeel (17), and the brother of Abdelkarim Nasme together with his wife (Wafa) and his one-and-a-half years old son (Abdelkarim). During the seven-week Israeli military offensive, 2,131 Palestinians were killed, including 501 children, and an estimated 18,000 housing units have been either destroyed or severely damaged, leaving more than 108,000 people homeless.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/41176/

 

011 Saint Joseph hospital, East Jerusalem, 29.7.2014
The body of Zehir Al-Najar, a six-year old Palestinian boy from the Gaza Strip, seen at the morgue of Saint Joseph hospital in East Jerusalem, after dying from injuries suffered by an Israeli military strike in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, July 29, 2014. Israeli authorities were exceptionally authorised to move Al-Najar into Israel in order to receive a specialised brain surgery following negotiations between the Red Cross and The Palestinian Authority; he did not survive surgery.
Photographer: Faiz Abu Rmeleh
https://www.activestills.org/image/29426/

 

012 – Gaza under attack, Gaza Strip, 17.7.2014
Palestinian women react during the funeral of the three children from Shuhaibar family killed earlier in an Israeli airstrike in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, July 17, 2014. The three killed children were two brothers, Jihad Issam Shuhaibar (8) and Wasim Issam Shuhaibar (7), and their cousin Afnan Tariq Shuhaibar (10). The airstrikes came immediately after a temporary five-hour humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended. As of July 17th, 237 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the Israeli military operation against the Gaza Strip, including 48 children, and more than 1,700 have been injured.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/28965/

 

013 – Gaza under attack, Funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, 21.7.2014
Funeral for the 26 members of the Abu Jame’ family, who were killed the previous day during an Israeli attack over the Bani Suhaila neighbourhood of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, July 21, 2014. Reports indicate that 18 of the 24 killed were children of Abu Jame’ family. Israeli attacks have killed 550 Palestinians in the current offensive, most of them civilians.
Photographer: Anne Paq
https://www.activestills.org/image/29118/

 

014 – Gaza aftermath, Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip, 21.5.2021
Palestinians walk amidst the ruins of a neighbourhood of Beit Hanoun which was destroyed by the recent Israeli bombardements , northern Gaza Strip, May 21, 2021. The 11-day Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip that ended on May 21 wreaked massive destruction. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing, 1,800 housing units were completely destroyed and 14,315 were damaged during the military assault. Thousands of Palestinians remain displaced. Seventy-four governmental offices were destroyed. Many infrastructures including water, sanitation, and electricity, have been heavily damaged or destroyed. In the same period, 248 Palestinians were killed during the offensive—including 66 children and 39 women, and 12 people were killed in Israel, including two children, by rockets fired by Palestinian armed resistance groups.
Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun
https://www.activestills.org/image/46908/

 

015 – Gaza aftermath, Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip, 27.5.2021
Palestinian women bathe a child using a water bucket on the rubble of their home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip, May 27, 2021. Residents of the city of Beit Hanoun suffer from lack of water and electricity due to the recent Israeli bombardments and massive destruction in the northern Gaza Strip during the 11-day Israeli military offensive. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing, 1,800 housing units were completely destroyed and 14,315 were damaged during the military assault. Thousands of Palestinians remain displaced. Seventy-four governmental offices were destroyed. Many infrastructures including water, sanitation, and electricity, have been heavily damaged or destroyed. In the same period, 248 Palestinians were killed during the offensive—including 66 children and 39 women, and 12 people were killed in Israel, including two children, by rockets fired by Palestinian armed resistance groups.
Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun
https://www.activestills.org/image/47088/

 

016 – Gaza aftermath, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 25.5.2021
Mahmoud Sabih celebrates his 13th birthday with his family and friends, near the ruins of his former house, which collapsed after an Israeli airstrike on May 10th. Gaza City, May 25, 2021.
Photographer: Mohammed Zaanoun
https://www.activestills.org/image/47004/

Scheda autore

ActiveStills

Activestills è un collettivo di fotografi documentaristi palestinesi, israeliani e internazionali che operano in Palestina, Israele e all’estero. È nato nel 2005 ed è una struttura indipendente auto organizzata, basata sulla convinzione che il lavoro collettivo sia al servizio dell’espressione personale di ogni fotografo e che i progetti congiunti creino potenti dichiarazioni condivise. Activestills è pienamente impegnato nella lotta del popolo palestinese, per i loro diritti e libertà, e mira a sensibilizzare su questioni generalmente assenti dal discorso pubblico o presentate in modo fuorviante dai media.


Activestills is a collective of Palestinian, Israeli and international documentary photographers working in Palestine, Israel and abroad. It was born in 2005 and is an independent, self-organised independent structure based on the belief that mutual work serves each photographer’s personal expression, and that joint projects create powerful shared statements. Activestills is fully committed to the struggle of the Palestinian people, and their rights and freedom, and aims to raise awareness on issues that are generally absent from public discourse, or presented in a misleading way by the media.