In the past week, Israel has mounted a massive offensive against the Gaza Strip. The attacks have claiming the lives of over 112 Palestinians, including many civilians. The clashes reached a peak on March 1st, when Israel sent in a regiment of ground troops killing 77 Palestinians in two days. According to Gaza health ministry statistics, 22 children were killed and more than 350 people were wounded.

Despite the large number of civilian casualties, Israel says the operation was aimed at rooting out the Palestinian fighters who have been firing homemade rockets at southern Israel. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal insists that Palestinian rocket attacks are a result of, not the cause of, ongoing Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people. "They [Israelis] do not want to end the occupation, stop attacks or lift the siege. What do people expect the Palestinians to do," Meshaal told a press conference in the Syrian capital Damascus.

On Monday March 4rd, Israel began to pull ground troops from Gaza, but Israeli aircraft continue to carry out bombing raids. The lull in fighting is perhaps due to a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday. Monday Rice called for "talks" but refuses to call for a cease-fire. A senior Israeli official told Reuters “This very limited (Gaza) operation was intended to show Hamas what could happen, what you may call a "prequel”. He went on to say “If they continue to fire the rockets, then there will be more operations like this one or worse.”

The Israeli assault has drawn worldwide protests for excessive use of force. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has formally suspended contacts with Israel. In Berlin, Germany's Foreign Minister insisted that Israel "must preserve the principle of proportionateness." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a condemnation of what he termed Israel's "excessive and disproportionate" response and called on Israel "to cease such attacks". Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the IDF attacks can have no humanitarian justification and added that Israel was rejecting a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Saudi Arabia called on the international community to stop the "mass killings" of Palestinians. In Egypt, thousands of students held protests at universities across the country calling on Arab leaders to stop Israeli aggression and support the Palestinians. In Lebanon, several hundred school children from 20 schools took part in a Hezbollah-organized demonstration outside UN headquarters in Beirut. In Syria, tens of thousands filled the central square of Damascus to protest ongoing Israeli attacks.

On March 3rd, Students for Justice in Palestine staged a die-in in Berkeley to protest Israel's actions.
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