It’s difficult to imagine what it must have been like in Gaza during last summer’s 50-day war. Photos only get you so far. Incomprehensible damage was done. There are very few Israelis or Palestinians who don’t know someone injured, killed or in some other way affected by Operation Protective Edge. And for what? More people with dreams and futures left in tatters, trying to piece back together any semblance of normality. Abdalkareem Mahmoud Abu Samra, a 24-year-old photographer living in Khan Yunis, was unfortunate enough to live under Israel’s line of fire as it killed civilians to protect its own citizens from Hamas militants’ rocket fire. As he and his family ran from their home, fleeing the attacks but with nowhere to hide, terror consumed them. “We were on the brink of death,” Abdalkareem tells me. There isn’t much more he can or needs to say. For the four years previous to the last Gaza war, he documented daily life in the Gaza Strip through his lens. His photography portfolio ranges from photos of Gaza City’s lights at night and children jumping into the sea to casualties on hospital stretchers…
