MIDEAST: In a Rotten State

Abu Abed can't make a profit, and although 54 years old, he still has not married. "I can't pay my rent, I can't afford a wedding."

MIDEAST: Piecing the Injured Back Together

On a Saturday morning in Gaza city, the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre (ALPC) is filled with people waiting to see the director, Dr. Hazem Al-Shawwa.

MIDEAST: And Still They Run These Taxis

Salleh wonders how he will pay for a replacement car part he bought from the tunnels black market.

MIDEAST: Malnutrition Begins to Bite

"No one is buying meat these days," says Yousef Al-Jerjowi, sitting next to his butcher shop devoid of customers.

MIDEAST: Finding Fish, But Israelis Too

"They told us 'go west or we will shoot you'," says Ashraf Sadallah. "Initially, we refused, so they began shooting very close all around our boat."

MIDEAST: Attack on Water Brings Sanitation Crisis

'Biddun mey, fish heyya', they say in Arabic for a universal truth: 'Without water, there is no life'.

MIDEAST: Palestinians Rebuild With Mud

Jihad el-Shaar is pleased with his mud-brick house in the Moraj district of Gaza. The 80-square metre home is a basic one-storey, two-bedroom design, with a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting room, made mostly with mud and straw.

MIDEAST: Lost in the Buffer Zone

"They're always shooting at us. Every day they shoot at us," says Alaa Samour (19), pulling aside his shirt to show a scar on his shoulder. Samour said he was shot on Dec. 28 last year by Israeli soldiers positioned along the border fence near New Abassan village, east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

MIDEAST: Suddenly, Home Was Gone

Dates in the calendar to mark the rights of women mean little to Manwa Tarrabin (56) and her two daughters. They have lost home, and any rights to it.

MIDEAST: Ceasefire Broken From Day One

At 7.30 am Jan. 22, five days after Israeli authorities declared a 'ceasefire' following their 22-day air, land and sea bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Israeli gunboats renewed shelling off the Gaza city coast, injuring at least six, including four children.