Gaza: Painted Donkeys Become "Zebras" for The Children

Israel-Palestine: Mixed Reception for US Envoy Mitchell in Tel Aviv
Israel FM Lieberman: Distance from US, No Agreement with Palestine

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Days after the statement of John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency’s top official, that “the number of Gazans living in abject poverty has tripled this year to 300,000 – one in five residents”, a poignant scene:

The two zebras of the the Marah Land Zoo died from hunger earlier this year, neglected during Israel's war in Gaza. As it was too expensive to bring in replacement zebras, the keepers decided to cover a pair of donkeys with black and white patterns.

Amidst signs that Israel-Palestine is even further away, we're not sure whether to be reassured --- as the BBC was with this "human interest" story --- or unsettled that tragedy could be covered up, not by the keepers with a bit of paint, but by the media with "Isn't It Sweet?"

Israel-Palestine: Gazans in Poverty Triple

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On Thursday, John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency's top official in Gaza, said that "the number of Gazans living in abject poverty has tripled this year to 300,000 - one in five residents". He called the rise in poverty a "predictable consequence" of the border blockade and added, "The suffering, the impoverishment, the misery of the people here in Gaza continues to rise because of a man-made crisis, a political failure."
Ging's statement casts light on "the West Bank success story" being trumpeted by Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren:

Imagine an annual economic growth rate of 7%, declining unemployment, a thriving tourism industry, and a 24% hike in the average daily wage. Where in today’s gloomy global market could one find such gleaming forecasts? Singapore? Brazil? Guess again. The West Bank.

In contrast Gaza faced, as Richard Goldstone told CNN on Wednesday, and "the delibarete address of Israeli bombs on factories", "Some of the killing…was certainly intentional. There was no mistake in bombing factories. The Israeli intelligence has very precise information."

With the economic situation in Gaza worsening day by day, what kind of settlement can rest on an "economic breakthrough" within the boundaries of the West Bank?