GAZA MURALS, AUGUST 2015

Banksy returned to Palestine in August 2015 to create a series of powerful new murals. In 2005, he already made history in leaving murals on Israel's West Bank barrier wall. This time, the artist goes undercover, making a satirical travel advertisement for Gaza. Banksy published a 2-minute film showing him entering an underground tunnel carrying cans of spray paint. The video starts off by saying, “Welcome to Gaza.” The must-watch video spotlights the devastation caused by last summer's conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. “In 2014 Operation Protective Edge destroyed 18,000 homes.” This refers to the Israeli military operation that targeted Hamas militants who were firing rockets into Israel.

Bomb Damage, Gaza City

First, the black hooded artist stencils a weeping Greek figure that looks like Rodin's The Thinker. With a hand on her head, the woman appears as if she is weeping. It is titled Bomb Damage, Gaza City.

Kitten, Gaza City

Banksy also painted a cute kitten playing with a coiled ball of rusted metal, as if it were an innocent ball of wool. About the Kitten, painted on the remains of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike, Banksy explained on his website that a local man came up to him and asked what it meant.

I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.

Watchtower, Gaza City

Another mural shows images of children swinging on a fairground ride, which is actually a surveillance tower.

I don't want to take sides. But when you see entire suburban neighborhoods reduced to rubble with no hope of a future — what you're really looking at is a vast outdoor recruitment center for terrorists. And we should probably address this for all our sakes.