Description
Children blow up balloons and carry the Palestinian flag over the rubble of destroyed houses in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip following a ceasefire that ended five days of Israeli strikes. "This is a catastrophe within a catastrophe", laments Mohammed Zidan, who lost his home, as he remembers the 75th anniversary of the "Nakba", or "catastrophe" which Palestinians associate with Israel's creation. For painter Nisreen Abu Zir, writing on the rubble of houses is a message that she wants "life to go back to normal." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES