Al Jazeera's Witness Special follows one boy's journey from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon to the UK's most prestigious public school.
Gaza's thriving tunnel imports unleash building boom
29/12/2011
A masked Palestinian man works in a smuggling tunnel running under the Egypt-Gaza border in Rafah.(MaanImages/file)
At last, Nael Zeyara has a steady job in construction, thanks to the smuggling of cement through Gaza's network of tunnels to Egypt, an underground supply line that boosts the Israeli-blockaded enclave and creates jobs.
Zeyara, 30, has been out of work for four years.
"I lead a tough life with a wife and four children in a rented house," Zeyara told Reuters as he worked.
"Six or seven months ago I got my job back when supplies began to flow again," he said. Zeyara earns about $19 a day.
Thanks to hundreds of tunnels in the sandy soil of the border zone, a construction boom has buoyed Gaza's otherwise crippled economy, according to a United Nations report.
Israel only allows construction materials into Gaza for the use of international relief agencies, including the building of houses and schools. It has recently permitted the import of limited quantities to rebuild some factories destroyed in its largest military offensive in Gaza, in 2009.
Deported Palestinian prisoner Talal Shreim and his family describe their ordeal at the hands of the Israeli authorities.
Talal Shreim reunited with his mother after serving 10 years in Israeli prisons [Mohammad Alsaafin/ Al Jazeera]
Talal Shreim could not stop beaming as he sat in his new living room in Doha, Qatar, finally surrounded by his family after having spent 10 years in an Israeli jail. Less than 24 hours before, he was able to hug Tasneem, his 10-year-old daughter, for the first time since his incarceration, having only been able to watch her grow up through a glass window during sporadic and arbitrary 45 minute visitation periods.
Two months ago, 477 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, whereby a total of 1,027 Palestinians would be exchanged for one Israeli soldier who has been held in Gaza since 2006. On Sunday, Israel is expected to release the remaining 550 Palestinians in order to complete the deal.
Shreim was one of the 40 prisoners deported from the occupied territories in the first swap; a condition set by Israel for those they considered to be a security threat. He had been charged with being a member of Hamas' political wing, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
