Gaza Strip

Israeli ground troops battled Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood early Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and sending terrified residents running for cover as gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance.

Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets on two cities as both sides defied a U.N. call for an immediate cease-fire.

From Phillip Pullella at Reuters: Relations between the Vatican and Israel grew tense on Thursday when the Jewish state condemned an aide to Pope Benedict for calling Gaza “a big concentration camp.”

A brief letter about how the recent police brutality relates to the missile attacks on Palestine.

From Rami G. Khouri at the Middle East Online: Of course, the immediate consequences of the Israeli assault on Gaza are felt primarily by the Palestinians in Gaza. But the political shockwaves will be felt throughout the Arab world in forms that cannot be easily predicted today.

From Rashid Khalidi at The New York Times: NEARLY everything you’ve been led to believe about Gaza is wrong.

Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people.

Joe the Plumber is taking on a new job.

<span id="lw_1231332581_0" class="yshortcuts">Israel</span> ordered a pause in its Gaza offensive for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians.