……..they encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of Allah?" Ah! Verily, the help of Allah is (always) near! (2/214)

Israel begins ground assault on Gaza Strip

Around 2 thousand protested last night in front of Israeli consulate in Levent, Istanbul. Photo credits: Haksoz.net More photos can be found there.

Hundreds of Turks protest Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip

Hundreds of Turks demonstrated outside the Israeli and United Nations missions in Istanbul and Ankara overnight in protest at Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.

You Wonder Why They Hate You? Look at Gaza

[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News] The Israeli air force has been bombing the Gaza Strip since last Saturday. As of yesterday, the death toll was over 400 hundred. According to the United Nations, a quarter of these people were women and children. The wounded, which again included hundreds of innocent civilians, were calculated to be more than 1,000. Now let’s stop there and think for a second. I repeat: the Israeli war machine has killed around 100 innocent civilians. Some children died bleeding in their mother’s arms, others were burned alive. Worse Than 9/11Please try to understand want this means. Try to grasp the scale of this slaughter, too. Gaza’s population is around 1.5 million. The population of the United States is 200 times more than that. So, in order to understand the scale of the loss in Gaza, you need to multiply the number of its innocent victims with 200. (That is a method often used by Israelis to explain to the Americans the level of their sufferings.) That will give you 20,000 dead bodies. As you can figure out, this six times more than the carnage that innocent Americans fell victim to on Sept. 11, 2001. So, six 9/11’s in only six days…

Do Israel pilots feel happy killing innocent women and children?

By USAK

A Palestinian in Gaza chronicles life under Israeli bombardment

By Fida Qishta

guardian.co.uk, Saturday

3 January 2009 13.35 GMT

I go to visit friends in the Block J neighbourhood in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. While I am in a friend’s house, my phone rings. It’s a friend from Gaza City, calling for a chat. Suddenly I hear the sound of an explosion at his end. At the same time I hear an explosion in Rafah too. Just outside, somewhere near. My friend says: "Fida, they are attacking nearby." I say: "They are attacking here too."

European protesters urge end to attacks on Gaza

By Grassroots

The Associated Press: European protesters urge end to attacks on Gaza

"European protesters urge end to attacks on Gaza

By JILL LAWLESS – 4 hours ago

LONDON (AP) — Demonstrators hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister’s residence in London on Saturday and waved Palestinian flags in more than a dozen European cities as tens of thousands protested Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Hundreds protest in Cyprus over violence in Gaza – International Herald Tribune

Obama Must Get Tough With Israel to Achieve Peace

The Siege of Gaza

By tabsir on Election 2008

A bomb dropped by an Israeli air force F-16 jet exploding in Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip.

The Siege of Gaza: Barack Obama’s First ‘Test’?
John L. Esposito, Middle East Online, December 31, 2008

DOZENS OF PALESTINIANS KILLED IN GAZA — AFP CITES ISRAELI SOURCES

Dozens of armed Palestinians have been killed so far in Israel’s ground offensive in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, a military source told AFP on Saturday several hours after the launch of the operation.

Israeli troops and Hamas militants clash in Gaza as incursion starts

Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza on Saturday and engaged in night-time battles with Hamas forces after more than a week of air strikes that left hundreds of Palestinians dead and widespread destruction, news agencies reported. Both sides claimed that the other side gave casualties. (UPDATED)

Israel launches ground operation in Gaza, Hamas says price to be high

Israel has launched a ground operation in Gaza, an operation said to be lengthy and likely to increase death toll as Hamas said the price would be high.

EU presidency says Israeli action is defensive

European Union president, the Czech Republic, said on Saturday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action.