An eight-metre fence surrounds the Gharib family home in the occupied West Bank. To reach it they must pass through a gate controlled remotely by Israeli security forces.
Since Israel seized the territory in the 1967 war, an Israeli settlement has sprung up on surrounding land claimed by the family, leaving them isolated in their single-storey house on the edge of the Palestinian village of Beit Ijza.
“I don't know when this will end,” Saadat Gharib said with a sigh. “No one knows the pain my children are suffering.”
For years the family home stood on farmland, but now it lies behind a yellow gate, controlled by Israeli soldiers, who also patrol a narrow bridge overlooking the towering fence.
“During these years we've had a tough life,” said Mr Gharib, 40, who works for the Palestinian Authority in nearby Ramallah.
When he was a child, the Jewish settlement of Givon Hahadasha was built partially on land he says belonged to his family.
Decades on, the high fence separates the Gharib house from the Israelis' red-roofed homes and gardens. A communal space for the settlers, with a children's slide, has been placed a few metres away.
Settlements are considered illegal by most of the international community, a judgment Israel rejects.
The Gharib family has fought numerous legal battles in Israeli courts, in 2012 winning the right to a small strip of the land they claim.
“The settlers built a car park and a park, and we've needed the security forces to implement [the decision] and retrieve it for 10 years,” Mr Gharib said.
The yellow gate leading to the house was installed in 2008, Mr Gharib said, and at one point the family had to hold up their IDs to security cameras to cross the threshold.
“[We] appealed to the high court … and the court permitted us to have the gate open all the time,” Mr Gharib said.
“Disputes have broken out between us and the settlers,” said Mr Gharib, who lives with his wife and four children, and his mother.
Avi Zipory, a resident of the settlement, said he would prefer it if the “unpleasant” fence around the house was not there.
“Two courts unanimously decided that the area and his house are within Jewish land,” the 70-year-old said.
“We didn't want to destroy his house … [he is] not ready to accept any alternative plan, [even] other land and a lot of money, that's why we had to continue this separation fence,” he said.
Mr Gharib has hung blue tarpaulins to create a screen between his home and the Givon Hahadasha settlement. “So that the kids can play without being bothered by the settlers and fearing them,” he said.
Mr Gharib said the situation has affected his children, particularly when there are clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces near by.
“My daughter couldn't sleep all night, for five hours, and she was afraid of the security forces that were stationed at the door of the house,” Mr Gharib said, recalling one incident.
Despite the difficulties, he still works to harvest the family's olive trees.
To do so, he said he has to co-ordinate with the Israeli security forces and take a circuitous route through the neighbouring Palestinian village of Bayt Duqu. Once there, Mr Gharib said he must wait “an hour or two” for soldiers to open another gate.
Mr Gharib is determined to stay on his land: “This is our land, which my father inherited from my grandfather. We will not sell it to anyone for all the money in the world.”
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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Torque: 1075Nm
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
RESULTS
Tottenham 1
Jan Vertonghen 13'
Norwich 1
Josip Drmic 78'
2-3 on penalties
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
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UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
MATCH DETAILS
Barcelona 0
Slavia Prague 0
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