Gaza City, December 28, 2008 (Pal Telegraph)- Like thousands of his fellow Gazans, Kamal Awaja is still living with his family in a tent on the rubble of their home which was razed to the ground during Israel's deadly onslaught a year ago.

"You don't have anything if you don't have a house," Awaja told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, December 20.

The family's house in northern Gaza was flattened by Israeli troops storming during a three-week deadly offensive last year.

Awaja and his wife were wounded while their eight-year-old son Ibrahim was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.

Since then, the bereaved family has been living in a tent, where feral dogs try to rummage through their kitchen at night.

"You don't have any security," says Awaja.

Israeli troops killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including 313 children, and wounded thousands during its three-week Gaza onslaught.

The offensive wrecked havoc on the infrastructure of the densely-populated coastal enclave, leaving some 20,000 homes and thousands other buildings in ruins.

The two-and-a-half year blockade, which covers construction materials such as cement and steel, denied Palestinians any chance of rebuilding their homes.

"We couldn't live in this hell forever, we had to do whatever we could to raise our standard of living," says Awaja, who says connected the tent to an electricity grid and purchased an array of home appliances smuggled in through the tunnels.

Dead Life

The Israeli war has also left its pall on the academic future of many young Gazans.

"After the war life seems to be dead," says Fatma al-Khatib, a graduate from the American International School, one of Gaza's premier educational institutions, which was bombed out by Israel.

Among the best and brightest students in Gaza, graduates are usually accepted into American universities. Many of them even win scholarships.

Khatib was accepted to the American universities of Cairo and Beirut, but she remained in Gaza because of the closures.

"For students who travel abroad it is hard to come back for vacations, so my family did not like the idea," she said.

"My family was worried."

This year, only two members of the graduating class of 15 left to study at American universities, including a young woman who won a full scholarship to the prestigious Yale University.

"This is for me the most brutal punishment you can impose on anybody," said school director Ribhi Salem.

"We had a graduation ceremony and listened to their speeches and they are all full of hope and energy."

The Israeli military says it allows students with a "recognized scholarship" who have arranged for a foreign diplomatic escort to leave Gaza.

But the Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, an Israeli rights group, disputes the claim, estimating that 750 students remain stranded in Gaza because of a web of bureaucratic obstacles.

"It doesn't matter who you are or how good your academic future looks, leaving Gaza for study abroad is very difficult," says director Sari Bashi.

"Gaza is closed."