Palestinians hold banners during a protest, in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, in Oct. 19, 2014. Khuzaa is threatened with an environmental and humanitarian disaster due to the Israeli offensive on Gaza strip. An open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza militants, mediated by Egypt, took effect on August 26 after a seven-week conflict. It called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt, and a widening of the territory's fishing zone in the Mediterranean. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib