![Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas smiles during a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 18, 2013. As Palestinian leaders discussed a possible U.S-brokered resumption of peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli government denied a shift in its conditions that might help end a three-year stalemate. Abbas began briefing fellow PLO leaders in Ramallah on his meetings this week with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has extended his stay in the region and appears to be](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Mahmoud-Abbas.jpg/Mahmoud-Abbas.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=3HDM8wTc)
Asmaa al-Ghoul is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Palestine Pulse and a journalist from the Rafah refugee camp based in Gaza.
![Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas smiles during a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 18, 2013. As Palestinian leaders discussed a possible U.S-brokered resumption of peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli government denied a shift in its conditions that might help end a three-year stalemate. Abbas began briefing fellow PLO leaders in Ramallah on his meetings this week with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has extended his stay in the region and appears to be](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Mahmoud-Abbas.jpg/Mahmoud-Abbas.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=3HDM8wTc)
![A Palestinian man rests inside the al-Omari mosque during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza September 23, 2008. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA) - RTX8TUP](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Gaza.jpg/Gaza.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=8MIWAQol)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Palestinian labourers work at a construction site in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip January 2, 2013. Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3C1Q5](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Gaza-construction.jpg/Gaza-construction.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=8bHEtv9D)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Anti-Mursi protesters follow the news on television in a public cafe on a main square where thousands gathered for a second day in Alexandria, July 1, 2013. Egypt's armed forces handed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi a virtual ultimatum to share power on Monday, giving feuding politicians 48 hours to compromise or have the army impose its own roadmap for the country. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX1198F](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/1-RTX1198F.jpg/1-RTX1198F.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=AoJAUGLg)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Palestinian members of security forces loyal to Hamas stand guard on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip July 5, 2013. Egyptian security forces closed the Rafah border crossing and state media said it would reopen on Saturday. Security sources said Islamist gunmen opened fire on El-Arish airport, close to the border with the Gaza Strip and Israel and at three military checkpoints. A police station in Rafah on the Gaza border was hit by rockets, wounding several soldiers. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu M](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Gaza1.jpg/Gaza1.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=_4R8Yliz)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![A Palestinian man carries cooking gas canisters at a gas filling station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip June 24, 2013. Egypt has intensified a crackdown on smuggling tunnels between its volatile Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip, causing a steep hike in petrol and cement prices in the Palestinian territory. Many Gaza residents complain they have been without cooking gas for weeks, with tunnel supplies low and imports from Israel scarce. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY EN](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/RTX10ZA3.jpg/RTX10ZA3.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=RYRHPLvY)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie 23, speaks through a megaphone to an Israeli army
bulldozer before she was killed in Rafah, Southern Gaza Strip March 16,
2003. An Israeli military bulldozer killed Corrie on Sunday who was
protesting the demolition of a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday,
Palestinian medical officials and witnesses said. "The bulldozer put sand on
her and kept crushing her," said Nicholas Dure, a fellow member of the
International Solidarity Campaign to Protect the Palestinian Peopl](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/RTRK4UI.jpg/RTRK4UI.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=nmFCBXM4)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Palestinians enjoy the warm weather at a beach in Gaza City May 31, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT) - RTX107G6](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Gaza%20-beach.jpg/Gaza%20-beach.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=JVBFHi-j)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![An Islamic Jihad militant rides on the back of a pick-up truck during a parade to mark the 25th anniversary of the movement's foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 2, 2012. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR38PCW](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/IslamicJihadParade.jpg/IslamicJihadParade.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=mTkz88wO)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![A delegate wearing a headphone is sillhouetted in front of a banner during the 81st General Assembly in Rome November 5, 2012. The world's largest international police organization, Interpol, and ministers from over 100 countries met in Rome for three days to address issues ranging form human trafficking to terrorist activities
REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY - Tags: CRIME LAW) - RTR3A0JL](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/Interpol.jpg/Interpol.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=oP_rSv9i)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Palestinian girls take part in a ballet class at Gaza college in Gaza City September 3, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY EDUCATION) - RTR37FYP](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/Gaza%20culture.jpg/Gaza%20culture.jpg?h=930a6ae7&itok=2nVsOy0u)
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
![Asmaa al-Ghoul](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2016/asmaaalghoul.jpg/asmaaalghoul.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=zoLMHrdv)
Asmaa al-Ghoul