Anonymous British street artist Banksy has created a politically-charged series of works, using destroyed houses and buildings in Gaza as a canvas.
It's six months since a ceasefire ended the clashes between Israel and the Palestinians across the border.
One image depicts a kitten with a bow tied around its neck and its paw lifted above a ball of mangled wire.
Mohamed Al-Shambari, a resident of Beit Hanoun city, said Banksy arrived three months ago and shared a laugh with him as he explained the reason for the seemingly incongruous choice.
“We helped him, we spoke to him and we laughed together. Because of the rubble there is nothing that the cat can play with, so it is playing with the iron ball from the rubble" he said.
Mr Al-Shambari said Banksy wanted to deliver the message that Palestinians are suffering.
The artist keeps his real identity secret and almost never gives interviews, but wrote on his official website "A local man came up and said 'Please - what does this mean?' I explained 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."
One of the graffiti works is of Greek goddess Niobe weeping, while another depicts an Israeli watchtower turned into a children's ride.
Banksy uses Gaza as canvas to highlight plight of Palestinians. (Banksy.co.uk)
A video uploaded on YouTube by Banksy is laced with ironic and provocative comments and purports to show Banksy climbing through a network of tunnels to an area of Gaza filled with concrete rubble and children sitting amongst it.
The end of the two-minute clip shows graffiti on a wall which reads: "If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, we side with the powerful and don't remain neutral".
