Nevin had dressed that morning, put on some makeup and gotten her daughters — Zaina, Lina, Maise and Doa’a — ready for the day. Her husband, Mahmoud, flagged a taxi, and the couple set out from the warren of buildings in her neighborhood in eastern Gaza City to a leafy street near the center of the capital. There was a long wait to see him; the high demand must have been a good sign, Nevin thought. Their life together began in a tiny bedroom in her in-laws’ apartment where the couple lived for two years before they moved into their own home in Shajaiye, the neighborhood where both their families lived. Zaina and Lina, now 14 and 13, came into their lives first, the two girls growing close because just a year separated them.

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Persons: Nevin, — Zaina, Lina, Maise, Doa’a, Mahmoud, You’re, ”, hadn’t, Zaina Organizations: Shifa Locations: Gaza City, Al, Shajaiye