A tragedy whichever you see it.
"The smell of smoke hangs in the air and the scorched walls and blackened floor speak to the depth of the tragedy that occurred here.
Three children - Nadine, 7, Farah, 6, and 3½-year-old Sabre - died in this room when a candle they were using for light started a fire that burnt so fiercely that by the time their mother - asleep in a nearby room - was able to raise the alarm, it was too late."
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"The Bashir family know that their children fell victim to Gaza's long-running power crisis.
The children's uncle says all parties in this grinding war of attrition, from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to its rivals Hamas, who have ruled Gaza since June 2007, to Israel and its military occupation and siege, bear some responsibility for the family's loss.
The coastal strip's 1.5 million residents have been without power for 18 hours a day over the past two months and suffered electricity shortages for years before that. Candles or generators are the only escape from darkness.
When Egypt started to crack down on fuel smuggling through Gaza's tunnel system near the Rafah border, the strip's sole power station ground to a halt on March 23.
Hamas accused Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority of causing the emergency by insisting that fuel come into Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, allowing the PA to collect taxes on the import and Israel to maintain restrictions on goods coming into Gaza.
In turn, officials from PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement accused Hamas of making millions from smuggled fuel. Hamas started smuggling fuel in 2007 after Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, leading to shortages of fuel for industrial and domestic uses, as well as most other goods. Israel eased the blockade in mid-2010 but fuel is still in short supply."
"The smell of smoke hangs in the air and the scorched walls and blackened floor speak to the depth of the tragedy that occurred here.
Three children - Nadine, 7, Farah, 6, and 3½-year-old Sabre - died in this room when a candle they were using for light started a fire that burnt so fiercely that by the time their mother - asleep in a nearby room - was able to raise the alarm, it was too late."
***
"The Bashir family know that their children fell victim to Gaza's long-running power crisis.
The children's uncle says all parties in this grinding war of attrition, from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to its rivals Hamas, who have ruled Gaza since June 2007, to Israel and its military occupation and siege, bear some responsibility for the family's loss.
The coastal strip's 1.5 million residents have been without power for 18 hours a day over the past two months and suffered electricity shortages for years before that. Candles or generators are the only escape from darkness.
When Egypt started to crack down on fuel smuggling through Gaza's tunnel system near the Rafah border, the strip's sole power station ground to a halt on March 23.
Hamas accused Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority of causing the emergency by insisting that fuel come into Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, allowing the PA to collect taxes on the import and Israel to maintain restrictions on goods coming into Gaza.
In turn, officials from PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement accused Hamas of making millions from smuggled fuel. Hamas started smuggling fuel in 2007 after Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, leading to shortages of fuel for industrial and domestic uses, as well as most other goods. Israel eased the blockade in mid-2010 but fuel is still in short supply."
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