Fatah leaders routinely accuse Hamas of plotting to establish an “emirate” in the Gaza Strip. Gaza is in fact turning into a statelet separate from the West Bank, but it is Israeli policies that are driving the “Gaza is Palestine” option with a series of measures that have been implemented since the early 1990s to sever Gaza from the West Bank. This development has intensified under the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump. In the White House's vision for Middle East peace, which turns the West Bank into a series of isolated Bantustans enveloped by Israeli territory and shorn of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip becomes the centerpiece of any future Palestinian entity. The international community, laser focused on avoiding another war in Gaza, has prioritized the humanitarian over the political crisis, furthering the excision of the Palestinian territory. As aid flows directly into Gaza, bypassing Ramallah, and Israel and Hamas negotiate a long-term ceasefire, the Palestinian Authority (PA) finds itself increasingly marginalized.

This sample of photos from 16 August–15 November 2017 aims to convey a sense of Palestinian life during this quarter. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement, the one hundredth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and Palestinian Authority attacks on press freedoms (including its arrest of human rights defender Issa Amro) are featured in the images, as are protests of land expropriation, home demolitions, a successful science competition, and the commemoration of Yasir Arafat's birthday.