India, May 16 -- Blink and you might miss the few stone walls that are all that's left of the village that Yusuf Abu Hamam's family was forced to flee when he was an infant in 1948.

The village, al-Joura, was demolished by the Israeli military at the time. It has since vanished under neighbourhoods of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and the grounds of a national park.

The neighbourhood where Abu Hamam's family ended up - and where he spent most of his life - now lies also largely in ruins. Buildings in the Shati Camp in the northern Gaza Strip have been razed and wrecked by Israeli bombardment and demolitions during the past 2 and a half years of war.

On Friday, Abu Hamam and millions of Palestinians mark the 78th anniversary of ...