Jabalia: "Hamdillah Assalamah"

Underfoot, sand mixes with the ash of tyres scattered along the roads of the camp. Every night, the residents burn the tyres in order to create a shield of smoke thick enough to jam the signals of the Israeli drones crisscrossing the sky.

In each street you enter, you cannot help but see coloured flags over the houses of martyrs. Neighbours and volunteers receive guests on behalf of the families of the victims.

Shoes and the lower hems of our trousers were so blackened by the ashes of the burned tyres. Most of people on condolence visits carry small radios in their pockets to follow the latest news of Israeli attacks through trustworthy local stations. Some local journalists met us, enthusiastically calling out: "Hamdillah Assalamah."

We headed to the condolence tent for Ibrahim Hamdan, 50, who was killed when an Israeli fired a rocket near his house in the neighbourhood of Tal al-Zatar, east of Jabalia Camp. Two cousins from the Afana family were killed and five civilians were wounded in the same strike. The Hamdan family could not erect the condolence tent near his house in accord with Palestinian tradition, as they feared the drone would fire again. Relatives and friends of Hamdan thus set-up the tent in a "safer" place in the heart of the camp.

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