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Gaza is among the most densely populated places in the world. Two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half the population is under eighteen years of age. Since Israel occupied Gaza in 1967, it has systematically de-developed the economy. After Hamas won democratic elections in 2006, Israel intensified its blockade of Gaza, and after Hamas consolidated its control of the territory in 2007, Israel tightened its illegal siege another notch. In the meantime, Israel has launched no less than eight military operations against Gaza--culminating in Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9 and Operation Protective Edge in 2014--that left behind over three million tons of rubble. Recent UN reports predict that Gaza will be unlivable by 2020. Norman G. Finkelstein presents a meticulously researched and devastating inquest into Israel's actions of the last decade. He argues that although Israel justified its blockade and violent assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions were cynical exercises of brutal power against an essentially defenseless civilian population. Based on hundreds of human rights reports, the book scrutinizes multifarious violations of international law Israel committed both during its operations and in the course of its decade-long siege of Gaza. It is a monument to Gaza's martyrs and a scorching accusation against their tormenters

Many in the United States and Israel believe that Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization, and that its social sector serves merely to recruit new supporters for its violent agenda. Based on Sara Roy's extensive fieldwork in the Gaza Strip and West Bank during the critical period of the Oslo peace process, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza shows how the social service activities sponsored by the Islamist group emphasized not political violence but rather community development and civic restoration.

The variation during 15 years in the shoreline along the North Sinai coast has been determined by analysing TM and ETM true colour Landsat images from 1986 to 2001. The analyses identified erosion and accretion patterns along the coast. The shoreline has advanced west of El Bardawil inlet1, El Bardawil inlet2, and El Arish Harbour, where the wave-induced littoral transport has been halted by jetty construction and beach growth rates are 20,681, 69,855 and 20,160 m^sup 2^/year, respectively. On the downdrift side of the constructed jetties to the east, the shoreline is retreating and beaches erode at rates of -71,710, -69,968, and -11,760 m^sup 2^/year, respectively. Sedimentological analyses of beach sediment samples have indicated selective transport of heavy minerals according to their densities and grain sizes. A general correspondence has been found between variation in grain size, sorting and heavy-mineral content of beach sand and the patterns of shoreline changes.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Abstract The opening verses of 3 Maccabees set the story in the aftermath of the Battle of Raphia (217 bce); the significance of this historical setting has been overlooked. The Battle of Raphia is intimately related to the narrative at large in at least three ways. First, 3 Maccabees advocates for a counter-tradition to a stele tradition that arises out of Ptolemy's victory at Raphia. Second, the story reworks the famous incident of Ptolemy's elephant retreat at Raphia into a tale of praise for the God of the Jews. And finally, the book is invested with the irony already present in the historical realities of Ptolemy's short-lived victory.

This 135-page report, which focuses primarily on home demolitions in Rafah, was compiled by a team of three researchers who spent a total of one month in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, and Israel interviewing more than 89 individuals, including Rafah residents, PA security personnel, municipal officials, representatives of local and international human rights groups in Gaza and Israel, IDF officers, Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, military specialists, and journalists. The following is excerpted from the summary of the report. Footnotes have been omitted for space considerations. The complete report is available at www.hrw.org .

France is shocked by the refusal of the Syrian authorities to release Mrs [Rafah Nashid] when the international community, together with the medical and scientific community, have been calling unremittingly for her release and for the precariousness of her state of health to be taken into account.

Rafah Moughrabi knew that if she was going to open a Syrian restaurant, it was going to look authentic. It's something you'll immediately notice in Ramsey at her newly opened Mosaic restaurant, where mosaic panels befitting the restaurant's name boldly preside over the walls with stylized floral designs of pea green, gold and black. A chandelier of brass and glass hangs in the center of the dining room. All of the decor, including the linens, is imported from Syria.

This personal account by an American woman returning to Rafah after several years illustrates the extreme conditions that characterize daily life in the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip and the difficulties getting in to witness what is happening. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]