Return to Gaza

I hadn’t been to Gaza since January. The kidnapping of theBBC’s Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston on March 12 had madethe strip a no-go zone, and during the vicious rounds offactional fighting between Hamas and Fatah it was virtuallyimpossible to report from Gaza in a meaningful way. But Hamas’ stunning victory in the final round of fightingon June 15, had changed everything. Fatah had been roundlydefeated, and my sources in Gaza told me we could return. At the border, the scene, once we passed through the finalgate remotely controlled by Israeli border security, wassurreal. Around a hundred people — mostly young men with asmattering of women and children — were huddled by the sidesof the concrete corridor. There was a strong stench ofsweat, urine, human excrement and rotting garbage. Thepeople were mostly members of the defeated Fatah securityservices and their families, desperate to get out of Gaza. Afew spoke to us,