KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Surrounded by militant training sites on uprooted Jewish settlement lands, the first movie set in the Gaza Strip is growing, depicting the history-rich, volatile alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City.

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The set is the latest effort by the al-Aqsa channel, run by Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers, to kick-start its drama production in the territory and release another series slated to air in the month of Ramadan.

Actors create a scene of confrontation between Israeli police and settlers and Palestinians. (Photo: AP)

In Gaza, filming footage of Jerusalem and other central locations from the conflict is a challenge.

Gaza’s population of about 2 million live in mostly cramped conditions in the coastal sandy territory compared to the rugged mountain terrain of the WestBank, so crews have struggled to film the twisting ancient alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City. And that is how the idea to create a set depicting Jerusalem was born.

Palestinian actors dressed as ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and settlers perform. (Photo: AP)

The fate of Jerusalem is an emotional issue at the heart of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to the Old City with its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians want the territory for their future state.

The hilltop compound is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, where the two biblical Jewish Temples stood and is the most sacred place in Judaism. It is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-topped Dome of the