War in Gaza

Palestinian activists call it "the world's largest open-air prison" - 38 kilometers (24 miles) and between six and 13 kilometers wide. The Gaza Strip is only half as big as Hamburg, but has about the same number of inhabitants - 1.8 million people, 43 percent of them under 14 years old, its borders to Egypt and Israel as good as sealed off.

"You are not allowed to fish, you have no work, you're not allowed to leave the country - it's life in a cage," said Khouloud Daibes, Palestinian ambassador in Germany. "They need prospects, hope, a future."

Israel expands its offensive

But a true prospect seems to be a long way away. Since the start of the Israeli military offensive two weeks ago, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed and over 2,000 injured, including many children. Now Israel has sent in ground troops, with the aim of destroying Hamas' rocket launchers and tunnels, which it uses to smuggle weapons and attack Israel.

The Islamist Hamas movement is the dominant political force in the Gaza Strip. Ideologically, it is close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Unlike the more moderate Fatah, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas has not renounced violence. Its fighters continue to fire rockets at Israel, and the damage they cause is psychological as much as physical. Wailing sirens force the people in nearby Israeli towns to look for shelter. Two Israeli civilians have now been killed by the new conflict. Most of the rockets are destroyed by Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system.

Gazan people need help

The people of Gaza have nowhere to find shelter. Although the Israeli ministry provides warnings, they still face the danger of Israeli air strikes. The biggest shortage is of medication for the injured. "The hospitals can't make up the shortfall in treatment," Gaza Governor Abdallah Frangi told DW. "There are hardly any more beds, there are power outages that last hours. That makes the operations and the work in the hospitals even harder."

"You can't forget that this is about the people - Gaza is not Hamas," Daibes said. At the start of June, Hamas and Fatah agreed to form an independent government out of 15 specialists, for the first time in seven years. This was supposed to take over the administration until new parliamentary and presidential elections. "That was our first attempt to come to a common position and bring political Hamas into the process for seven years," Daibes said.

Agreement moves into the distance

While this step was cautiously welcomed in Europe and the US, Israel vehemently opposed the idea and broke off peace talks. For Daibes, this is a sign that the current Israeli government is not interested in a political solution to the conflict.

"The reason for this offensive was political," Frangi said. "They didn't want the Palestinians to come together. They don't want a Palestinian state next to the state of Israel and they want to reinforce the division between Gaza and the West Bank."

Frangi now says there is a burden on the international community to negotiate a cease-fire. "People here don't understand that world is watching and can't end the escalation," he said. "The best thing would be to force a ceasefire and for the Israelis to withdraw. Then we can talk about all the points that stand between us."