Moonlight in Gaza (2006), 2006
The nocturnal scenes entitled “Moonlight in Gaza” were shot during the military operations, labeled ‘Operation Summer Rain,’ activities that took place for several weeks on the Gaza border after the abduction of Cpl. Gilat Shalit by the Hamas on June 2006. The following day, of his abduction Israel had declared all necessary actions in order to bring about the release of the abducted soldier a top priority.
In these nocturnal landscapes, actions performed by the soldiers are revealed only as artillery shoots or as tanks maneuver through the night, while the moon hovers high above the soldiers preparing themselves to enter into Gaza. The night becomes a place of mystery where hidden actions become visible for a while under the light from both the moon and military machinery, actions which vanish as soon as the lights cease to exist. In this twilight zone, the night becomes a metaphor for the covering up and the blurring of the senses. The night becomes the very existential reality of the blindness of war.