Earlier this spring, tensions between Israel and Gaza escalated yet again, with Palestinians firing rockets into southern Israel—and Israel responding with airstrikes.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal strip in 2007. Some 50 percent of the labor force there is unemployed, clean water and electricity are often in short supply, and many Palestinians are unable to leave the territory.
Yousef Bashir grew up in Gaza, in a home adjacent to a Jewish settlement. At the start of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, Israeli soldiers took over the upper floors of the house to use as a lookout point. They stayed for five years.
Bashir recounts the ordeal—including being shot by an Israeli soldier and then healed by Israeli doctors and nurses—in a new book, The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine. Bashir is now a U.S. citizen who advocates for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
