I was starving after work today, so I went straight to the Al-Deira
Hotel for a sandwich and a cold glass of melon juice. The Al-Deira is
on the seafront, next to the old Gaza harbour: it is an elegant old
hotel with swish rooms and a huge terrace overlooking the sea, and the
local hang-out for delegates and journalists who come to Gaza. Now that
it’s midsummer, the Al-Deira is packed from dusk onwards, but the
customers are mostly local.