Israel to ascertain extra settlements within the West Bank – Middle East disaster are living

My colleague Bethan McKernan has written about her time because the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent.

Three days earlier than Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault on Israel, I used to be serving to buddies who are living in Gaza City accumulate armfuls of guava of their orchard in Beit Hanoun, within the north of the Strip, when one thing ordinary came about.

Hamid and Rania* had purchased the small plot the 12 months earlier than. It used to be overgrown, however over the converting seasons they’d labored laborious on their dear acquisition. I known as it the name of the game lawn, a tiny oasis in the middle of the dry, grimy distress of Gaza.

As smartly as guava, there have been apple, fig, lemon, orange and olive timber. The couple planted grapefruit and pomegranate saplings, and dug vegetable beds for tomatoes, herbs and spices. Rania additionally installed yellow and pink chrysanthemums in flowerpots produced from stacks of worn-out automobile tyres.

Read extra about Bethan’s reviews right here…