By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor
Palestinians of any age killed by Israel are hailed as martyrs
Sharif al Uwasi bustled around like a good host, finding chairs for his guests and insisting that they ate, but his eyes were puffy, ringed by dark circles, and he looked as if he was carrying the heaviest burden of his life.
His son, Riad was killed by Israeli soldiers earlier this week as they raided al Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Riad was 11 years old and died from a bullet in the stomach.
His picture, taken a few years ago so he looked even younger than he was, smiled down on the lines of men who were sitting outside his grandfather's house in the heart of the camp.
Riad's young brother, too small to catch the grief but aware that something important had happened, tried to rise to the occasion.
He struck poses for the camera that must have seemed warrior-like to him, raising his fingers in a victory sign, and waving the Palestinian flag as father looked on, smiling weakly.
Mourning rituals in the Middle East are well developed.
Palestinians, no matter what their age, who are killed by Israel are regarded as martyrs who have died in the national struggle.
The mindset of the people here is becoming more and more frustrated, more and more desperate, more and more radical and it is all so predictable - that is the tragedy
John GingUN official
For three days chairs are set up under awnings outside family homes and patriotic songs are played at high volume from portable speakers.
Coffee is served and so is food at mealtimes.
The men - neighbours, friends and family - stay under the street awnings, and the women sit inside, unseen by outsiders.
Sharif al Uwasi was full of despair about the future.
Life has never been easy in Gaza. It is a narrow, overcrowded strip of land, inhabited by 1.4mn Palestinians, most of whom are refugees from the land that became Israel in 1948.
But life in Gaza has got much, much worse in the last few years.
The world's biggest powers imposed sanctions against Hamas when it won elections in 2006.
Cut off
They regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation and demanded, still without success, that it recognise Israel, give up violence and accept previous Palestinian agreements with the Israelis.
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