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UN officials are calling on Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip. They\'re warning that the situation in the Palestinian territory may get even worse. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the Israeli blockade has paralyzed Gaza\'s construction industry. Robert Turner also said that the demolition of tunnels used by Gazans to transfer goods and construction materials to the enclave has put U-N projects on hold. This, after Egyptian authorities also stepped up the destruction of the tunnels in recent months. Meanwhile, another U-N official, James Rawley has also waned about the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory over a lack of fuel there. Gaza\'s fuel crisis has led to the closure of its main power plant in recent months. Israel imposed its all-out land, aerial, and naval blockade on Gaza in June 2007 after the victory of Hamas in elections there.

The fuel crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has forced the residents of the coastal enclave to turn to the Sun to meet their energy demands. Authorities of this crisis-hit hospital in Gaza have decided to install solar panels to get the most out of the sunlight. They say loss of power for even a minute could spell disaster for the patients there. Gazan officials hope the solar power could play a bigger role in providing energy for the Palestinians. But the solar panels are a bit costly and not everybody in the impoverished enclave can afford using them. Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for several years now. This has been exacerbated by the closure of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

People of Gaza are facing a humanitarian crisis after the enclave\'s sole power plant shut down due to fuel shortage on November 1. Palestinians living in the besieged territory suffer at least 12 hours of daily blackouts. Gaza\'s Ministry of Health has also warned of severe environmental and health problems if the power crisis is not resolved.

Schoolchildren in Gaza protest long hours of electricity cuts in the Palestinian enclave. The students gathered in front of the house of Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas as they blamed him for the power shortage.

Human spirit perseveres even in the face of tremendous adversary. Inside the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza people have to struggle for the very basic daily activities that are generally taken for granted in most other parts of the world. \\\"Within Gaza\\\" series- in 5 episodes- peaks through the walls of occupation and siege to try to reveal how the Gazans go about their lives. Each episode deals with one harshness that afflicts the residents and portrays their ingenuity in coping with Israeli occupation and intermittent onslaught.

The Union of the Metal Industry Workers in the blockaded coastal enclave has announced that there are around seven thousand workers currently unemployed due to the Israeli blockade and Egypt\'s closure of the borders. About %90 of Gaza factories, 3900 factories, are shut down due to the blockade. Factories have been shuttered due to the shortage of machinery, raw material, and the ongoing power crisis.

Egypt is tightening security measures along its borders with the Gaza Strip following massive unrest in the country. The new security measures are affecting the daily lives of many Gazans in the coastal enclave. Gaza has been suffering for several years from an Israeli blockade which has caused a lot of difficulty for the people living there. But now the new situation on the Egyptian border is making the economic situation in the coastal enclave much more difficult than before. Due to the tight Israeli blockade, Gaza depends on the tunnels to obtain essential supplies and cheaper fuel. Estimates show 40 percent of the coastal enclave\'s needs come via underground tunnels. Hala al-Safadi, Press TV, Gaza

Israeli warplanes have bombarded the Gaza Strip, killing at least two Palestinian and wounding several others. Eyewitnesses say Israeli warplanes targeted the southern city of Khan Yunis. Two more strikes were reported in the east of the Gaza city and another in the center of the impoverished enclave. The attacks come shortly after a Palestinian sniper shot dead an Israeli along a border fence in the north of the coastal enclave. The incident seemed to be in retaliation for the recent killing of Palestinians in Gaza by Israeli forces. The Israeli military shot and wounded a Palestinian in northern Gaza on Monday. Another Palestinian was wounded by Israeli troops on Friday in southern Gaza, a day after a young Palestinian was killed and four others injured by Israeli fire.

GAZA (Reuters) - A Reuters cameraman was killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in what appeared to have been an Israeli military strike. Fadel Shana, a 23-year-old Palestinian, was covering violence in the enclave for the international news agency. Two bystanders were also killed in an explosion after Shana stepped from his vehicle. His soundman escaped serious injury. Film from Shana's camera showed an Israeli tank stationed several hundred meters (yards) away firing a shell. The film then went blank, apparently at the moment Shana was hit. Earlier, local residents had said the explosion appeared to have been caused by an air strike. The Reuters vehicle, an unarmored sport utility vehicle bearing "TV" and "Press" markings, had just stopped and Shana got out to film, local residents said.

To defy Israel's four-year blockade of the impoverished Palestinian enclave, a Libyan aid ship departs for the Egyptian port of El-Arish en route to Gaza. The cargo ship Amalthea, which left the Greek port of Lavrio, southeast of Athens, late Saturday, is carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies, including sacks of rice, sugar, corn oil and olive paste, intended for suffering Gazans. "We hope that the Israeli authorities would not ban the ship from entering the port of Gaza," said Youssef Sawani, Executive Director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. The foundation is chaired by the son of Libyan Leader, Muammar Gaddafi. "I think the Israelis need to understand that we are not provoking any kind of action, we are not in military action, we are a peaceful organization, a humanitarian organization," he said. Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said he has discussed the ship's planned trip with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday. The ship has nine crew members — six Libyans, a Moroccan, a Nigerian and an Algerian. This latest attempt comes after Israeli commandos attacked the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy on May 31 in international waters, killing 9 Turkish activists. The Israeli assault sparked a worldwide condemnation and a row between Ankara and Tel Aviv. Turkey's Prime Minister demanded that Israel apologize for the deadly attack on the Turkish-owned ship Mavi Marmara, offer compensation to the victims, agree to an international investigation and end the blockade of Gaza. It also recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and cancelled military exercises with Israel. It has also twice denied Israel the use of its airspace. Israel has refused to apologize, claiming its commandos only used force to defend themselves after being ambushed.

Lebanese Mariam to set sail to Gaza A Lebanese aid ship will kick off its journey to the Gaza Strip on Sunday to deliver humanitarian relief to the besieged people of Gaza. The ship Mariam is scheduled to leave Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli for Cyprus on Sunday, an organizer said Thursday. Since Lebanon is still technically at war with Israel, the ship cannot travel directly to Gaza, it should pass through a third country -- in this case, Cyprus. The Mariam would be carrying around 60 Lebanese, US and European women, as well as cancer drugs, organizer Yaser Qashlaq told Reuters. A second ship, the Naji al-Ali, would also sail a couple of days later, he added. Israel, which has imposed a blockade on Gaza since June 2007, has threatened to stop the vessels from reaching the coastal enclave. The mission comes after the Israeli military attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters on May 31. The assault left nine Turkish activists on board the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara dead and about 50 other people, who were part of the team on the six-ship convoy, injured. Israel also arrested and later released nearly 700 activists from 42 countries who were on board the ships, which were attempting to break the siege of Gaza in order to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to the long-suffering people of the territory.

PA to renew Israeli talks without freeze Despite Israel's refusal to extend its settlement freeze, the Palestinian Authority (PA) will still resume the second round of direct talks with Tel Aviv. The upcoming meeting will be held at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas held the first round of negotiations in Washington on September 2. Following the first meeting, Abbas warned that he would leave the negotiations should Israel resume its illegal settlement activities. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell will also travel to Egypt to attend the meeting. The four officials will then move to al-Quds (Jerusalem) for a second day of talks on Wednesday. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama will meet with Abbas and Netanyahu in New York next week during the UN General Assembly meeting. The second round of Israeli-PA talks comes after Israel on Monday approved the construction of more than 13,000 new settler units in the occupied West Bank. In November, the Israeli premier announced a 10-month freeze on illegal settlement expansion projects in the occupied West Bank. But Tel Aviv has repeatedly violated the freeze, which expires on September 26, by continuing to construct more settlement units. Article Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142352.html Israeli tanks roll into Gaza Strip Israeli tanks have attacked Palestinian refugee camp of al-Burage in their second invasion of the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. The Israeli military claimed Monday that the attack was in retaliation for mortar attacks by Hamas fighters on southern Israel. There have been no immediate reports of casualties, a Press TV correspondent reported. The raid came after an Israeli tank on Sunday killed three people in the town of Beit Hanoun. The Israeli violation of the coastal enclave comes after the Palestinian Authority engaged in direct talks with Tel Aviv. The incursion is in violation of a Palestinian demand for Israel's complete withdrawal behind the borders of 1967, when it captured Gaza, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem). Gaza is still far from recovering from the Israeli war at the turn of 2009, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians. Article Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142340.html Recorded September 13, 2010 at 1900bst

Palestinian killed in Israeli air attack At least one Palestinian has been killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip as the acting Palestinian Authority chief and the Israeli prime minister prepare to hold their third direct meeting. Three others were also wounded in the attack which was carried out against a Palestinian "survival tunnel" in Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border on Wednesday. The tunnels, which link the south of the impoverished enclave to Egypt, have been serving as conduits for vital supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip since June 2007, when Israel imposed a crippling blockade on the costal sliver. The perilous tunnels have been frequently attacked by Israeli and Egyptian security forces. The Israeli army has not commented on the air attack yet. The attack coincided with the third round of meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and acting Palestinian chief Mahmoud Abbas to end the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two previous face-to-face talks in the US and Egypt failed to bear results. Article Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142613.html

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees announces that Israel has "deliberately" impoverished Palestinians in the Gaza Strip through its strict siege on the enclave. Interview with Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur.

To put more pressure on besieged Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has increased its arrest and humiliation of Gazan patients seeking medical treatment outside of the enclave.

A recent report issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) says around 180 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces in 2011, Press TV reports. According to reports, more than 120 people including children and women have been killed and over 600 injured in the Gaza strip during air raids and ground incursions in 2011. “2011 was the bloodiest year since the end of Israel's war on Gaza. We still continue to suffer from a huge shortage of some types of medicines,” Ashraf al-Qedra of Gaza Health Ministry told Press TV. Israel has been imposing a land and sea blockade on the tiny coastal strip since 2007. It controls Gaza's airspace and territorial waters and restricts the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza. The Israeli regime waged a 22-day Christmas war on the densely populated coastal sliver in 2008 which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead including at least 300 children. The offensive also destroyed 4,000 houses and devastated a large portion of infrastructures in the blockaded strip. Israeli military forces also targeted UN-run schools and centers. More than 50,000 people were also displaced as a result of the three-week war. Tel Aviv also used internationally-banned weapons, including white phosphorus bombs, against the Gazans during the three-week war. On December 27, the Israeli military's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz warned that Tel Aviv would launch another war on the coastal enclave. The Israeli military, meanwhile, frequently bombs the besieged sliver, claiming that the acts of aggression are conducted for defensive purposes.

English Voiceover (Recorded from Press TV, June 3, 2012) Part of speech of the Leader of the Muslim Ummah, and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution , Ayatullah Imam Sayyed Ali al-Khamenei(HA) on June 4, 2012 http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=contentShow&id=9483 http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id... The Islamic Revolution Leader cautioned that the west and its puppet regimes were trying to make the revolutionary nations to perceive their revolutions were useless, adding however that unlike those western claims, the political and social situation on the ground has effectively changed due to the revolutions and that greater changes were forthcoming. Ayatollah Khamenei described Egypt as a great country with an influential nation, adding that former corrupt rulers had stolen the Egyptian nation\\\\\\\'s dignity by turning it into a strategic treasure for the usurping Israel however today the treasure has been recovered from the Zionist usurpers. Ayatollah Khamenei said the Mubarak regime was tasked to guarantee the Israeli security even at the cost of imprisoning one and a half million people in Gaza during the 22-day Israeli war on the besieged enclave however, today, with Mubarak ousted, the Zionist regime feels naked and goes upset. The Islamic Revolution Leader said a military hue and cry made by the Zionist authorities against Iran actually exposed their empty hands and fearful state, adding that the regime\\\\\\\'s authorities are well aware that they are now more vulnerable than ever so that any inappropriate action on their part would lash back down on themselves like thunders. Ayatollah Khamenei said the US and other western powers, as unconditional supporters of the Zionist regime were suffering much unfavorable conditions nowadays due to their economic and social problems, adding that the crisis has become more tangible after the falling from power of several pro-US governments across Europe as well as an ever increasing hatred on the part of nations against the US. Ayatollah Khamenei cautioned that the west seeks to transfer its own crisis to Asia and Africa, adding that a major western method to transfer its problems was to incite sectarian and religious strife in the Middle Eastern and North African revolutionary countries with a view to develop a counter-movement from inside the very revolutions. \\\\\\\"Today, Americans have embarked on inciting sectarian and religious conflicts in the revolutionary countries by using the British experiences in such fields; all the nations and their scholars, either Shii or Sunni, must be vigilant not to advance the enemy conspiracy,\\\\\\\" Ayatollah Khamenei urged. Ayatollah Khamenei reaffirmed however that stability will be restored to the revolutionary countries, especially Egypt and that any dictator regimes will be uprooted from the region. Ayatollah Khamenei deplored that amid these developments the Bahraini people were suffering double innocence. \\\\\\\"The Bahraini people are simply repressed by a despotic, dictator regime only because they wish to cherish the rudiments of democracy,\\\\\\\" the Islamic Revolution Leader said. The Islamic Revolution Leader said that all the revolutionary nations would eventually fulfill their goals only if they avoid sectarian or religious conflicts

[23 June 2012] Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza - English Israeli warplanes carried out a series of air raids in Gaza, targeting many positions across the blockaded coastal territory. People here are angry over what they say the silence of the international community for not taking any action to put pressure on Israel to end its military attacks. Press TV met Abu Shaban family who escaped unharmed after their house was targeted. Israel has stepped up its assaults on Gaza over the recent days. The attacks have claimed over a dozen lives in Gaza since Monday. A number of Gazans, including at least one child, have been killed and many others injured in the latest Israeli attack.International activists say the world has to condemn Israel's military attacks on innocent Palestinians in Gaza and take decisive measures to end the suffering of Gaza's 1.7 million.Israel frequently carries out air raids and conducts ground incursions in Gaza. The blockaded coastal enclave has been cut of from the outside world as Israel controls Gaza's border crossings, airspace and territorial waters, turning the impoverished territory into the world's largest open air prison.

[18 July 2012] Gazans demand permanent opening of Rafah Crossing - English Fatigue and anxiety is the order of the day at the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.Rafah is the sole pedestrian crossing connecting the blockaded coastal enclave with outside world that is not controlled by Israeli forces.

[29 Aug 2012] UN Gaza to be unlivable by 2020 due to Israeli blockade - English

Media Watch Israel has killed the military commander of the Palestinian Hamas movement in a missile strike on the Gaza Strip and launched air raids across the enclave, pushing the two sides to the brink of a new war. The attacks on Wednesday marked the biggest escalation between Israel and Gaza fighters since the 2008-2009 conflict and came despite signs on Tuesday that neighbouring Egypt had managed to broker a truce in the territory after a five-day surge of violence. Al Jazeera\\\\\\\'s Caroline Malone reports.

[06 Feb 2013] Power, fuel crisis cause more deaths in Gaza - English

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, there are more than 38 thousand people with disabilities in the Gaza Strip; or 2.4% of the total population in the Gaza Strip are with disabilities. Due to the Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave, disabled people in Gaza suffer two main problems; obtaining a medical permit for treatment outside Gaza, and getting access to required medications not available in the hospitals of the blockaded Gaza. Yasmeen a child of 11, suffered from cancer when she was 9. After a brain tumor, she lost control over her legs and arms. She is home-schooled and refuses to give up on living her life. Halla Alsafadi, Press TV, Gaza

As the Israeli blockade enters its seventh year, Palestinians in Gaza see no end in sight to their never-ending plight. Over one-point-seven-million Gazans continue to suffer as Tel-Aviv maintains a tight grip on the coastal enclave, allegedly for security reasons. Press TV\'s Ashraf Shannon reports from Gaza.

Continued Egyptian crackdown on tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula has caused prices of goods to increase. Under the choking Israeli blockade, tunnels are considered as a lifeline for over 1.7 million Gazans. Tunnels are used as pathways to bring in badly needed supplies into Gaza including cement and fuel. Hamas says the recent Egyptian move will increase the suffering in the coastal enclave. People are seen standing in line for hours just to get few liters of fuel for their cars and electrical generators. Egypt\'s campaign on the tunnels began in March with the flooding of underground passages. The Egyptian campaign has intensified over the past two weeks ahead of a wave of opposition protests in Egypt, which is expected to start at the end of June. Ashraf Shannon, Press TV, Gaza

Egyptian army has increased its crackdown on tunnels between Gaza and Egypt following the toppling of President Mohammed Morsi. These days, you can see Egyptian bulldozers destroying tunnels along the border with Gaza more than any time in the past. Egyptian army has also deployed tanks which have pointed their guns towards Gaza. The once bustling tunnels area nestled between the southern town of Rafah and the Sinai Peninsula looks more like a ghost town. There\'s no more transfer of goods or other vital commodities via the underground lifeline for the blockaded coastal enclave.

The temporary reopening of the Rafah crossing is not enough to meet the needs of the Gaza Strip\'s one-point-seven-million-strong population. Thousands of Gazans are currently stranded in the impoverished coastal enclave. Press TV\'s Ashraf Shannon reports from Gaza.

Thirteen years ago British Gas drilled the Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2 wells, thirty kilometers off the coast of Gaza. The drilling led to the discovery of a massive natural gas field: with 1.4 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. In 2011 Tel-Aviv authorized the U.S-based Noble Energy, a crude oil and gas exploration giant, to begin developing the field. But the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) says the offshore field belongs to the Palestinians. Because of the Israeli blockade, Palestinians don\'t have enough cooking gas in the coastal enclave. They aren\'t allowed to develop or tap into their own gas fields either. Ashraf Shannon, Press TV, Gaza