Ali Ali / EPA
Palestinian refugee children play in front of their family house in Jabaliya Refugee camp, in north Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Palestinians mark the 65th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of the Catastrophe) on May 15 to commemorate their displacement after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.
--European Pressphoto Agency
Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images
A Palestinian teacher speaks in class at a school in Gaza City on April 2.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Palestinian school children raise their hands during a class in al-Qahera elementary school in Gaza City on April 2. New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls' schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine.
By Dalia Nammari, Ibrahim Barzak, The Associated Press
Starting with the new school year in September, Gaza boys and girls in middle and high school will be breaking the law if they study side by side.
Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers argue that the new legislation, mandating gender separation in schools from age nine, enshrines common practice. But women's activists warned Tuesday that it's another step in the Hamas agenda of imposing its fundamentalist world view on Gaza's 1.7 million people. Continue reading.
Hatem Moussa / AP
Palestinian school girls and boys walk in front of a United Nations Relief and Works Agency elementary school in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, on April 2. Gaza's Hamas-controlled parliament has passed a law requiring separate classes for boys and girls in public and private schools from the fourth grade. Currently, boys and girls are separated in grade seven in public schools, but private schools can set their own rules.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
The 56th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Paul Hansen of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter as the World Press Photo of the Year 2012.
The picture shows a group of men carrying the bodies of two dead children through a street in Gaza City on Nov. 20, 2012. They are being taken to a mosque for a burial ceremony while their father's body is carried behind on a stretcher. Two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and his older brother Muhammad were killed when their house was destroyed by an Israeli missile strike. Their mother was put in intensive care.
Paul Hansen / Dagens Nyheter via World Press Photo
The photo was selected from a total of 103,481 images submitted by 5,666 photographers from 124 countries.
"The strength of the picture lies in the way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children," jury member Mayu Mohanna said. "It's a picture I will not forget."
Chen Wei Seng via World Press Photo
View the award winning images selected by World Press Photo.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Palestinians take part in a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement in Gaza City on Jan. 4, 2013.
Reuters reports — Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians joined a rare rally staged by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza on Friday, as tensions ease with rival Hamas Islamists ruling the enclave since 2007.
A long hiatus in peace talks between Abbas's administration and Israel has narrowed ideological differences between the two main Palestinian factions. Solidarity has deepened since Israel's Gaza assault in November, after which hardline Hamas, though battered, declared victory.
Suhaib Salem / Reuters
A poster depicting late Palestinian and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat.
Abbas remains based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but several of his senior advisers attended Friday's march in the Gaza Strip, festooned with yellow Fatah flags rather than the green Hamas colors that have dominated such events since Hamas fighters drove Fatah from the territory in 2007.
Ahmed Zakot / Reuters
A youth waves a Palestinian flag as he climbs a tree during the rally in Gaza City.
Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas. Read the full story.
Ali Ali / EPA
A Palestinian family sits beside a fire in their house which was destroyed during the eight-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in November, in Bait Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 13, 2012.
Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal gestures to the crowd during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas in Gaza City on Dec. 8.
Reuters reports: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in an uncompromising speech during his first ever visit to Gaza after decades of exile, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognize Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch." A sea of flag-waving supporters filled wasteland in Gaza city to hear his fiery speech at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of his Islamist group, which has ruled Gaza - a small splinter of coastal land - since 2007. Full Story
Meshal arrived Friday for his first visit to Gaza since 1967, when he left at the age of 11 as Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War.
Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, left, and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, right, wave to the crowd as they leave a rally in Gaza City on Dec. 8.
Ali Ali / EPA
Young Hamas supporters attenda rally for the 25th anniversary of the ruling party in Gaza City on Dec. 8.
Oliver Weiken / EPA
Palestinians watch the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Hamas movement in Gaza City on Dec. 8.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters
A Palestinian woman gestures during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas in Gaza City.
Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
A Palestinian boy wearing a military suit and acarrying mock missile shakes hands with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas in Gaza City on Dec. 8.
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Suhaib Salem / Reuters
Palestinian security guards pray at a soccer stadium which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike last month, in Gaza City on December 4, 2012.
Eight days of Israeli air strikes on Gaza and cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks ended in an Egyptian-brokered truce agreement last month, calling on Israel to ease restrictions on the territory.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
A Palestinian worker shovels sand as he repairs a damaged smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 26, 2012.
By NBC News staff and wire reports:
Palestinians wielded shovels and planks Monday to reopen tunnels used to smuggle in goods from Egypt to the Gaza Strip after Israel's eight-day offensive against Hamas. Israeli airstrikes have heavily targeted the network of tunnels, which smugglers use to bring in various items -- including food, fuel, construction materials and weapons -- to Gaza's 1.6 million residents.
While many Gazans depend on the tunnels for basic food and supplies, the underground facilities have also been crucial to arming Hamas and other militant groups. Full Story
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
An excavator operates at the site of a destroyed smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 26.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
A Palestinian smuggler waits for a cart containing gravel inside a smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Palestinians take a cigarette break as they work inside a smuggling tunnel beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.
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Bernat Armangue / AP
Palestinian schoolchildren walk through debris past a damaged school in Gaza City on Nov. 24, 2012. The school was damaged in an Israeli strike that targeted a nearby building.
Reuters reports: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children headed back to school for the first time Saturday in 10 days, in another indication normal life was returning after cross-border violence in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. Full Story
Ahmed Zakot / Reuters
Palestinian school girls inspect their school, which witnesses said was damaged in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City on Nov. 24.
Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images
Palestinian schoolboys look through a hole at their damaged school, run by the United Nations, in Gaza City, on Nov. 24.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.
Related content on PhotoBlog:
Bernat Armangue / AP
A Palestinian baby wears a Hamas bandana during a rally to celebrate the Israel-Hamas cease-fire in the Jebaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 22, 2012. Gaza residents cleared rubble and claimed victory on Thursday, just hours after an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers ended the worst cross-border fighting in four years.
Lefteris Pitarakis / AP
An Israeli soldier, left, hugs a comrade, center, to congratulate him for his birthday at a staging area in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip border on Nov. 22, 2012. A cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers took effect Wednesday night, bringing an end to eight days of the fiercest fighting in years.
Read more about the end of the conflict and the prospects for a lasting peace:
Bernat Armangue / AP
Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.
Shops and stores are reopening and a semblance of normalcy is returning to Gaza's streets after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is put into effect. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Gaza.
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Suhaib Salem / Reuters
Palestinians celebrate a cease-fire with Israel on Nov. 21 in Gaza City.
By NBC News staff and wire reports:
Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire Wednesday, ending eight days of fighting that killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis.
Hundreds took to the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the cease-fire, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported. Celebratory gun fire erupted across the city, whose streets gradually filled with crowds waving Palestinian flags. Ululating women leaned out of windows and fireworks lit up the sky. Full Story
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Palestinians celebrate in Gaza City.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Palestinians celebrate the Israel-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza City.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Armed Palestinians celebrate the cease-fire.
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Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.
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Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images
Ronit Hakmon looks at her damaged home after it was hit by a rocket launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on Nov. 20. Israel put on hold its threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Palestinians carry the bodies of two boys, Suhaib and Mohammed, right, Hejazi during their funeral in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 20. The two children and their father Fuad Hejazi were killed when an Israeli air strike in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya crushed their home on Monday, the Hamas Health Ministry said.
Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
Sapir Hachmon and her boyfriend Ron Vachnish react as they enter her room after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
Oliver Weiken / EPA
Mourners attend the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City on Nov. 20. He was reportedly killed in an air strike targeting a senior figure in Islamic Jihad's military branch, Ramez Harb, who also died in the strike. Israel pounded more than 100 targets in Gaza on the seventh day of its offensive, despite the arrival in the region of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Israeli aircraft, ships and artillery hit targets overnight including underground rocket launchers, tunnels and houses that the military said were 'hide-outs' or 'command centres' of Hamas leaders. Palestinians also fired at least 20 rockets at Israel since midnight.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
Since Israel launched its military campaign seven days ago in response to rocket fire, more than 100 people in Gaza and three people in Israel have been killed.
Internationally, the main focus was on stopping the violence, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi hinted at a possible breakthrough Tuesday.
Speaking at his sister's funeral in Egypt, Morsi said the "aggression on Gaza" would end Tuesday. He made the apparently off-the-cuff comments in front of mourners who had come to pay their respects, but did not elaborate. Several journalists traveling with Morsi confirmed he made the remark.
In Jerusalem Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be a “willing partner” in a cease-fire, but also issued a warning. Continue reading.
Jim Hollander / EPA
A religious Israeli man covers his head by the roadside, but continues to use his cellphone, on a road outside Beersheba, Israel, on Nov. 20, after hearing a siren sounding a 'Red Alert,' signalling a rocket attack. Palestinian militants fired at least 40 rockets at Israel early Tuesday, leaving one person injured and damaging property, Israeli police said in a statement. A volley of around 20 Grad rockets was fired at Beersheba, the largest city in the south. The armed wing of the Hamas movement, Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Four of the rockets landed in the city, while the rest either fell outside or were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Palestinians children take cover in a U.N. operated school in Gaza City, on Nov. 20. Some Palestinians have evacuated their homes seeking shelter from Israeli airstrikes. In some areas in Gaza city, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets asking them to evacuate their homes.
Mohammed Saber / EPA
Palestinian children watch the funeral of Foaad Hejaze and his two sons Mohammed Foaad Hejaze and Suhaib Foaad Hejaze from their house in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip on Nov. 20. Foaad Hejaze and his two sons were killed by an Israeli air strike which also left his wife injured.
Ashraf Amra / AP
Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire in the National Islamic Bank, which was destroyed overnight in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on Nov. 20. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule.
Danny Sasson / AFP - Getty Images
An Israeli soldier evacuates a young girl from a site hit by a rocket launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on Nov. 20. Israeli leaders discussed an Egyptian plan for a truce with Gaza's ruling Hamas, reports said, before a mission by the UN chief to Jerusalem and as the toll from Israeli raids on Gaza rose over 100.
Hatem Moussa / AP
Palestinian children stand in the rubble left after an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City, on Nov. 20.
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Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.
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