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The cramped town centre of bustles early in the day with people eager to make the best use of the time before the Israeli ­imposed curfew.

On the edge of Khan Yunis, at the southern end of the Gaza, butting up against abandoned two­ story houses riddled with bullet and shell holes is the ugly concrete security wall of the illegal Jani Tall ‘settlement’. It was hard not to feel afraid under the gaze of the gun emplace­ments or the sniper cage suspended high in the air by a tall crane - most people have stories of what they describe as ran­dom shootings. It is hard not to feel anger at the provo­cation of placing an armed colony here, just about as far from Israeli territory as it is possible to get.

And yet Khan Yunis is also home to  the Cultural and Free Thought Association - a grand name for a piece of immensely practical and compassionate work set up in 1992 by five women who wanted to help children in a local refugee camp. They rented a piece of land previously used for sewage and garbage collection and set to work cleaning it up. Over the years they have run leisure activities, a library and even a theatre on the site. Today the CFTA also runs play centres for local children, a centre for teenagers, a women’s centre and a loan scheme for women.

No-one who visits the CFTA children’s centre could fail to be impressed by the riot of activity. Though the buildings are poorer and the facilities limited, the atmosphere is like nothing so much as play-time at a British primary school. Inside the rough buildings playdough and poster paint are much in evidence and visitors are surrounded by children demanding to have their picture taken with their latest artistic creation. In another room a small group sits reading with an adult volunteer, while others built miraculously tall towers out of wooden blocks or play with a collection of battered toys. Most of the children, however, seem to be enjoying themselves frenetically outside. Safe places to play are at a premium in Khan Yunis, where many children have spent a large part of the last two years locked inside their houses, their sleep regular disturbed by gunfire and explosions. So while some were led in gymnas­tics, others let off steam throwing light plastic balls with all their might at a colourful wall inside a wire netting cage. It was a poignant contrast to the image of children throwing stones at soldiers with guns. 

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