![JABALIYA, GAZA - MARCH 29: A Palestinian shop-owner reads a newspaper outside his store on March 29, 2010, Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. Gaza's economy and employment levels have plummeted since the Israelis imposed a blockade after Hamas seized control in 2007. (Photo by Warrick Page/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/98210560.jpg/98210560.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=L8fQYtPR)
Hazem Balousha is a Palestinian journalist based in Gaza City. He has worked as a news producer for BBC World Service, contributed to Deutsche Welle and has written for The Guardian, Al-Raya (Qatar) and other publications. He is the founder of the Palestinian Institute for Communication and Development (PICD). On Twitter: @iHaZeMi
![JABALIYA, GAZA - MARCH 29: A Palestinian shop-owner reads a newspaper outside his store on March 29, 2010, Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. Gaza's economy and employment levels have plummeted since the Israelis imposed a blockade after Hamas seized control in 2007. (Photo by Warrick Page/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/98210560.jpg/98210560.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=L8fQYtPR)
![Palestinian travellers pass an Egyptian soldier standing guard on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border, to cross over to Gaza at Rafah city, some 350 km (217 miles) northeast of Cairo, May 22, 2013. Seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai last week were freed on Wednesday and President Mohamed Mursi announced a new crackdown on lawlessness in the desert peninsula. Their abduction underlined the threat posed by jihadists who became active in a security vacuum t](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/RTXZWEG.jpg/RTXZWEG.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=2Q27kaeP)
![A newborn baby girl lies next to her mother in the maternity ward of Al-Hilal hospital in the West bank city of Ramallah October 30, 2011. The world's population will reach seven billion on Oct. 31, according to projections by the United Nations, which says this global milestone presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the planet. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: HEALTH) - RTR2TFEF](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/1-RTR2TFEF.jpg/1-RTR2TFEF.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=3D6SqCON)
![Palestinian boys carrying Hamas and Palestinian flags in the Gaza Strip October 6, 2000 as they walk past graffiti showing the death last Saturday of 12-year old Mohammad al-Durra, who was shot dead during Israeli-Palestinian clashes. Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip where Islamic militants had declared a "Day of Rage". Five Palestinians were shot dead on Friday, brionging the feath toll in nine days of violence to at least 74. - RTXK21I](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/Durra.jpg/Durra.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=bWODhjTG)
![A wheelchair-bound Palestinian woman Manal al-Satari, 37, fixes cell phones at her shop in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip April 7, 2013.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTXYBPS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/RTXYBPS.jpg/RTXYBPS.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=q2n_KJu1)
![A Palestinian girl attends a Nakba rally in Gaza City May 15, 2013. Palestinians will mark "Nakba" (Catastrophe) on May 15 to commemorate the expulsion or fleeing of some 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZN2A](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/RTXZN2A.jpg/RTXZN2A.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=KdKbDUfx)
![Member of Hamas' security forces hold a news conference as alcohol, seized by forces last month, is displayed to the media in Gaza City August 10, 2010. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW SOCIETY) - RTR2H7BM](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/1-RTR2H7BM.jpg/1-RTR2H7BM.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=qWDL3FCA)
![Members of Hamas police take part in a graduation ceremony in Gaza City December 17, 2012. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3BO8S](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/RTR3BO8S.jpg/RTR3BO8S.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=tUC8e-X-)
![Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas speaks during a meeting of Fatah's central committee and the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) executive committee in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on May 13, 2012, a day after Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu sent his response to a letter from Abbas on the stalled peace process. AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/GettyImages)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/144298156.jpg/144298156.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=p8e-dPOn)
![Palestinian singer Reem Talhami from the West Bank, sings with choir members, who attend an UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) funded school, during a performance of the "al-Sununu" concert on April 23, 2013, in Gaza City. The Elena Rostropovich association, in cooperation with UNRWA are organizing the "al-Sununu" (The Swallow) concert which will involving a total of 23 choirs from across the Levant, including the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jo](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/04/167263509.jpg/167263509.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=-duMaxhM)
![A smartphone user logs into his Facebook account in Rio de Janeiro April 15, 2013. As Brazil rushes to introduce a blazing-fast fourth-generation wireless network before the 2014 World Cup, fewer than a dozen compatible smartphones will be available in stores, compared with the hundreds of models on sale worldwide. Picture taken on April 15, 2013. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes (BRAZIL - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS) - RTXYPNE](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/04/1-RTXYPNE.jpg/1-RTXYPNE.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=byx7aWVY)