Fighting continues in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli and Palestinian forces hammer each other with rockets days after an Israeli strike killed a senior official of Hamas, a Palestinian governing body of Gaza.
The death toll has climbed to more than 100, though the vast majority of casualties have been on the Palestinian side. More than half of the dead were civilians.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely-populated places on the planet, and even carefully targeted rocket strikes inevitably injure and kill people who happen to be living near a target.
Over 700 Plaestinians have been injured by the attacks, including 225 children. Several dozen Israelis have been wounded, and three civilians in Southern Israel were killed by a Palestinian rocket.
Much of the international community is afraid that Israel may escalate to a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, putting many more civilians and soldiers on both sides in harm's way.
In order to avoid that outcome Egypt is hosting preliminary ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, with other Middle-Eastern countries like Turkey and Qatar also taking part, but there as been little agreement thus far.
Hamas insists it will bring an end to hostilities only if Israel lifts its blockade of the region, which restricts travel in and out of the region, as well as limiting goods and supplies that can be obtained, with only a few exceptions for humanitarian aid. Hamas also says Israeli assassinations of Palestinian officials must stop.
For its part, Israel says Hamas must end rocket attacks first. The strikes by Palestinian rockets have been intermittent for months, culminating in a barrage of more than eighty against Israeli territory shortly before Israel began heavy retaliation six days ago.
However, it seems that international good will for the Israeli attacks is wearing out, and there is little support for a ground invasion even among Israelis. Is Israel continues to shell the Gaza Strip, civilian casualties will increase, and pressure form other countries to find a diplomatic agreement will mount.
At that point, Israel will either need to acquiesce to some Palestinian demands or double-down on an unpopular ground offensive with few allies to back it up.