Calm right now in Gaza City

I just drove through the city center of Gaza City, and right now it is calm here. Lot's of Hamas police on the streets, but I have not heard any shooting for an hour or two. According to local sources, there were seven persons killed earlier today, in conjunction with the mass rallies arranged by Fatah to commemorate Arafat.

Let’s hope it stays quiet. But when talking with local colleagues, they fear that there will be renewed violence tomorrow, when the victims of today are being buried. And the circle goes on and on…

Meanwhile, the sun is slowly setting over the Mediterranean, and the weaves keep pounding the beach outside my hotel room.

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Troubles in Gaza City

I am writing this, sitting in ANERA’s office in Gaza City. I crossed over into Gaza this morning without any problem. Driving through the Gaza Strip with taxi driver Yusef, I saw more people than usual on the streets, many of them waving yellow Fatah flags. Today is the memorial day for Yassir Arafat’s death, and therefore Fatah, the party that Arafat was the chairman for, and that the present president Abbas is now chairing, called for the biggest demonstrations in Gaza since Hamas took over.

I ended up in the middle of one of them, still rather small since it was in the morning (see photo).
This is the first time I have seen people, even school children, carrying Fatah flags openly here in Gaza after Hamas took over. I did see Hamas police/soldiers everywhere, but they were passive. At least then.

For the last hour or so, I have been hearing sporadic shootings here in Gaza City. I do not know if this is wedding-style shootings in the air (which is nowadays forbidden here) or if people are shooting at each other. Whatever way, we decided not to go out in the field to take photos, as earlier planned.

Hopefully, things are quieter tomorrow, so that I can do what I came to do.
That is, visiting pre-schools where ANERA provides vitamin-enriched milk and biscuits to all the children, and take photos there. I am also hoping to visit places where ANERA renovated or extended the water and sewage systems, to take photos of people living there and benefiting from this.

Meanwhile, I am discussing our PR work with my Gazan colleague Rania. Which is also interesting and needed.

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