I felt my dream is being robbed. Travel in and out of Gaza, a coastal territory that is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, has been severely restricted since , when Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces.
Israel, which has fought four wars with Hamas , most recently in May, says the blockade is needed to keep the militants from rearming.
Critics view it as a form of collective punishment. Hamas has repeatedly demanded the lifting of the blockade. After a backlash led by human rights groups, Hamas authorities amended the ruling to drop the requirement.
Hamas has only taken sporadic steps over the years to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on already conservative Gaza, and even then has usually backed down in the face of criticism. It does not share the extreme ideology of more radical factions such as the Islamic State group.
Al-Najar's father filed a petition, and the court prevented her from traveling so that it could consider it. She lives with her mother, who is separated from her father, and says he cut off all contact with her in May. He could not be reached for comment. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group that is deeply critical of the blockade, called on Hamas to lift its restrictions.
After being turned back at the border, al-Najar appealed to a number of local human rights groups, but said they appeared reluctant to assist her, fearing reprisal from Hamas. Eventually, she filed a petition against the ban. Her father failed to show up at the first hearing, causing it to be postponed. Before it adjourned, the judge asked her why she was going abroad and suggested she could just as easily study in one of Gaza's universities. Al-Najar, who speaks fluent English and teaches the language, aspires to be a journalist.
She says a multi-cultural country like Turkey provides opportunities that don't exist in Gaza, which is largely cut off from the outside world. The hearing was postponed a second time because her father's attorney was sick. It was postponed a third time on Wednesday because his new lawyer said he needed time to study the case.
From there on, the escalation was rapid. Palestinian health officials gave no breakdown on the death toll in Gaza, but Islamic Jihad confirmed that three senior commanders were killed in a strike on their hideout in a Gaza City apartment building. The Health Ministry said 10 children and a woman were also killed. Netanyahu said Israel had attacked hundreds of targets. The fiercest attack was a set of airstrikes that brought down an entire story building.
The building housed important Hamas offices, as well as a gym and some start-up businesses. Israel fired a series of warning shots before demolishing the building, allowing people to flee and there were no casualties. Israeli aircraft heavily damaged another Gaza City building early Wednesday.
The nine-story structure housed residential apartments, medical companies and a dental clinic. A drone fired five warning rockets before the bombing. Israel said the building housed Hamas intelligence offices and the group's command responsible for planning attacks on Israeli targets in the occupied West Bank.
Fighter jets struck the building again after journalists and rescuers had gathered around. There was no immediate word on casualties. The high-rise stood meters feet away from the Associated Press bureau in Gaza City, and smoke and debris reached the office.
Soon after the bombing, Hamas announced that it would resume its attacks and aimed rockets at the Israeli desert town of Beer-Sheva. Hamas said the renewed barrage was in response to the strike on the building. The latest rocket attack early Wednesday killed a man and his seven-year-old daughter in the central city of Lod, according to Israel's Kan public radio.
The Israeli military said hundreds of rockets were launched toward Israel. Two women, including an Indian caregiver, were killed in separate rocket strikes in the southern city of Ashkelon. Then, late at night, Hamas said it unleashed a barrage of rockets toward Tel Aviv in response to the destruction of the high-rise.
One rocket killed a woman in the city of Rishon LeZion, and another struck a bus in the nearby city of Holon, wounding three people, including a young girl. In Lod, thousands of mourners joined a funeral for an Arab man killed by a suspected Jewish gunman the previous night.
The crowd clashed with police, and set a synagogue and some 30 vehicles, including a police car, on fire, Israeli media reported. Paramedics said a year-old man was seriously hurt after his car was pelted with stones. In neighboring Ramle, ultra-nationalist Jewish demonstrators were filmed attacking cars belonging to Arabs.
In the norther port town of Acre, protesters torched a Jewish-owned restaurant and hotel. Police arrested dozens of others at Arab protests in other towns. Diplomats sought to intervene, with Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations working to deliver a cease-fire.
All three serve as mediators between Israel and Hamas. The U. Security Council planned to hold its second closed emergency meeting in three days Wednesday on the escalating violence, an indication of growing international concern. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private, said the U. Israeli aircraft carry out airstrikes at militant sites in Gaza, first since last month's cease-fire news.
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