Top 10 Amazing Places On Earth You Won’t Believe Are Real

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="354" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w7AFRg7-hrA?feature=oembed" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="630"></iframe></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The world is home to some truly surreal places that we must experience first-hand to believe its authenticity. This video takes a look at the top 10 amazing places on earth you won’t believe are real!  Next time you are planning a vacation, keep some of these spots in mind.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div>

Top 10 Amazing Places On Earth You Won’t Believe Are Real

The world is home to some truly surreal places that we must experience first-hand to believe its authenticity. This video takes a look a...

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Man Sparks House Fire While Trying To Kill Ants

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <header class="story__header" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A man douses an ants' nest in his garden with petrol, sets fire to it - and watches in horror as the flames spread to his home.</span></div> <div class="last-updated" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 40%; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right;"> <div class="last-updated__text" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"> <span class="last-updated__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">13:51, UK,</span></span><span class="last-updated__day" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="last-updated__day" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Friday 08</span> <span class="last-updated__month-year" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 2014</span></div> </div> </header><br /> <div class="story__content-outer-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 0px 332px 0px 0px; width: 992px;"> <br /> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530 1600x900" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328182/default/v1/453189539-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328182/default/v1/453189539-1-1600x900.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The man was trying to kill ants in his garden in South Yorkshire. Pic: File</span></div> </div> </div> </section><br /> <div class="story__content-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="share" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;"> <ul class="share__list" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <li class="share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link js-share" href="https://twitter.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2F1315373%2Fman-sparks-house-fire-while-trying-to-kill-ants" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--twitter share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; 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display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link js-share" href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2F1315373%2Fman-sparks-house-fire-while-trying-to-kill-ants" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--google-plus share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 38px;"></span></span><span class="a11y" style="border: 0px; 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position: relative;"><div class="story__intro" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A man thought he had come up with a cunning method for getting rid of ants - only to see his house go up in flames.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The unnamed resident doused the nest with petrol and set fire to it in his garden in Bramley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Thursday night.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But he was quickly forced to dial 999 when the flames engulfed his hedge and spread to his house.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The incident follows a similar blaze this week in Bridgend, South Wales, when a man managed to start a house fire by trying to kill a spider with an aerosol can.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: "The resident set light to the petrol, but the resulting fire spread to a garden hedge which burnt fiercely, melting plastic guttering, a plastic window frame and a garden chair.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We always tell people never to use petrol or other accelerants to 'get a fire going', but using petrol to eliminate an ants nest has to be a first for us.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The incident is a classic example of how even a small fire can so quickly develop into a much more serious incident."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Tuesday, firefighters were called to a house in Kenfig Hill, Bridgend, after smoke was spotted billowing from a window.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They were stunned to discover the blaze was started when a man sprayed a spider with an aerosol and then set fire to it.</span></div> </section></div> </div> </div>

Man Sparks House Fire While Trying To Kill Ants

A man douses an ants' nest in his garden with petrol, sets fire to it - and watches in horror as the flames spread to his home. ...

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A Letter to that Nigerian-Palestinian, By Gimba Kakanda

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-content" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1.25em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 662px; word-wrap: break-word; zoom: 1;"> <div class="entry-content" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">My participation in #BringBackOurGirls shows me the hypocrisy of our Muslim brothers and sisters who, dismissing our hashtags as a gimmick, are now loud champions of #FreePalestine.</strong><span id="more-165208" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"></span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">——————————–</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dear Friend,</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before you accuse me of finding nothing worth praising about you and yours, let me quickly empathise with you, and of course myself, over the killings in Gaza. You, as a humanist, one whose empathy has no border, are a citizen of the world, one of the reasons the earth is still habitable by the sane. It would be morally irresponsible for anyone to frown at your frantic advocacy which seeks an end to the killings in Gaza, only that common sense demands a man whose house is on fire to rush for the extinguisher for his own dwelling first, before attending to a similar fire elsewhere.</span></div> <div class="widget slideshow default widget-editable viziwyg-section-1024 inpage-widget-7804719" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 1;"> <div class="indLoading" id="galleriaLoadId-7804719" style="height: 465px !important; left: 0px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: relative; top: 0px; width: 620px; z-index: 10000;"> <div id="slideshow-7804719" style="outline: none;"> <div class="galleria-container touch" style="clear: both; height: 465px; margin: 0px auto; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 620px;"> <div class="galleria-stage" style="bottom: 60px; height: 505px; left: 0px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px;"> <div class="galleria-images" style="height: 505px; left: 0px; outline: none; position: relative; top: 0px; width: 620px;"> <div class="galleria-image" style="-webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); height: 505px; left: 0px; opacity: 1; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 620px; z-index: 1;"> <img height="465" src="http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article9632096.ece/alternates/w620/gaza-jerusalem-protestv2.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 465px; left: 0px; max-height: none; max-width: none; min-height: 0px; min-width: 0px; opacity: 1; outline: none; position: absolute; top: 0px !important; width: 620px;" width="620" /></div> </div> </div> <div class="galleria-info" style="left: 10px; outline: none; position: absolute; top: 10px; z-index: 1;"> <div class="galleria-info-link" style="background-image: url(http://www.independent.co.uk/skins/ind/gfx/slideshow/classic-map.png); background-position: -669px -5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 20px; opacity: 1; outline: none; position: relative; width: 20px;"> </div> </div> <div class="galleria-tooltip" style="opacity: 0; outline: none;"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-1024 inpage-widget-6138721" style="margin-bottom: 6px; outline: none;"> <div class="starRating" style="outline: none;"> </div> </div> <div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-1024 inpage-widget-6138720" style="margin-bottom: 6px; outline: none;"> <h3 class="subtitle" style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; outline: none;"> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Reports of 'relative lull' in missile and rocket strikes since weekend of failed truces</span></span></div> </h3> </div> <div class="x620 articleByTimeLocation" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none; overflow: visible !important; width: 620px;"> <div class="column-1" style="outline: none; width: 620px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-1024 inpage-widget-6138719" style="display: inline-block; margin: 4px 0px 2px; outline: none;"> </div> </span></div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">London stands up for Gaza, because London is not bereaved. New York stands up for Gaza because New York isn’t being threatened by hurricane-at least now. Palestine would not stand up for Chibok girls because they also have a strip of misery in which they are just as worthless: Gaza. And the young Malala Yousafzai who came and roused the conscience of her fathers in Nigeria, was not here as a Pakistani as you have announced in defending your geographically insensitive activism from my “secular advocacy”. She was here as a Birmingham, England-based NGO owner, to stand with the girls of Nigeria in whose education Malala Fund has invested thousands of dollars. She has, as the news says, even “offered to partner with the UN efforts to mitigate the impacts of the abduction and help the girls (whose welfare is a responsibility of her NGO) return to school.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You see, it’s not the way you internationalise your empathies that disturbs me, it’s this seeming pretence that all is well in your backyard while you weep over the blazing fire in faraway Gaza. If you, and others like you, had been half as passionate and emotional in your reaction to local tragedies as you are over the killings in Palestine, the troubles in the northeastern Nigeria wouldn’t have escalated to its present extent. The Palestinians, and their global solidarity soldiers, have gone berserk over the burning of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudair, their citizen, and you, amnesiac activist of a burning nation, have also been losing sleep over Khudair, ignoring the tens of Khudairs who die in your backyard every day!</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s not the internationalisation of your empathies that disturbs me, it’s your lack of wisdom to understand that Khudair has his fighters — and he’s fully named, his age too revealed –while all the killed and abducted Dantalas and Asma’us and Johns and Naomis of Yobe and Borno are seen as mere statistics, unworthy of collective advocacy by you.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ours is not a criticism of the northern establishment, but that of its hypocritical allegiance to “brotherhood of faith”, which is what you say in your solidarity with the Palestinians, ignoring that we’re just as bereaved here, and unknowing that Palestine is also a home for non-Muslims. But, wait, what sort of a human being is responsive to the tragedies that fall upon just the people of his faith?</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ours is a criticism of the collective, not of a specific group. This is a reminder that we have not done enough, not a declaration that we have not done anything at all. It’s a criticism of me and you who, safe from the bullets of Boko Haram, have not done anything comparable to the emotions shown in the sensitivity of our countrymen to the happening in Gaza. Are you, my dear global citizen, trying to say that we, especially resident northerners, need CNN and Aljazeera to remind us that there are carnages going on in our backyard before we acknowledge them?</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Haven’t we all lost friends and friends of friends and relatives and relatives of relatives in this madness? What media is more effective than being actually bereaved? The most effective media is our emotions, and on this I dare say that we haven’t shown and done enough. My participation in #BringBackOurGirls shows me the hypocrisy of our Muslim brothers and sisters who, dismissing our hashtags as a gimmick, are now loud champions of #FreePalestine.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">See, we are as bereaved as the people of Palestine and it’s quite ironic that, instead of gathering our lots to empathise with ourselves first and demand solutions and justice, we pretend as though all’s well in our house. Why are the people of Palestine not empathising with the people of Borno if our “brotherhood of faith” is actually reciprocal? Why? I repeat: why aren’t the people of Palestine extending their “brotherhood of faith” to us in the hours of our bereavements? The Palestinians have never stopped fighting. They have their men up and running against oppression. Who’s up fighting for us, especially for Chibok and the larger northeast? Why leaving these campaigns against Boko Haram’s terrors to just the members of Civilian JTF and #BringBackOurGirls campaigners?</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You even said that no atrocity is more than that going on in Gaza, and I ask: is there an experience worse than having minors abducted, savagely raped and impregnated by terrorists? Saying that no atrocity is as bad as that in Gaza means that the sanctity of a Palestinian’s life is higher than that of a Nigerian’s. And that, fellow countryman, is an unfortunate and disturbing utterance.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Similarly, you have to be really careful in your advocacy. At least get relevant history books to properly understand the religious and political complexity of the territorial conflicts that have turned Gaza into a prison-mortuary. Your alignment with the Palestinians, your brothers-in-faith, may lead you into something called anti-Semitism. And you also need to understand that it’s the peak of such misguided hatred that resulted into the formation of a racist ideology that once sought to promote the “Aryan” German race as the best of humans. Nazism, consequently, championed the killings of the innocent Jews, who were considered threats to proposed German nationalism.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In your analyses of the happenings in Gaza, you have, quite sadly, pandered to a way of the Hitler-led Aryan racists who considered the Jewish race abolishable pests.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Do have restraint in understanding that the happenings in Israel is not a crime perpetrated, and supported, by the whole of Jews. It’s a crime perpetrated by a monstrous ideology championed by a people of Jewish identity, just the way Nazism was not supported by the whole of Germans, but by a small but powerful National Socialist party clique. If you’re to adopt this form of flawed thinking in portraying ethnic or religious groups, obviously the whole of Muslims should be similarly persecuted for the crimes of Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabbab, the Taliban and even Boko Haram who all pretend to be advocates of rights for the Muslim!</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hate the Israelis who, under Zionism, did to Palestinians what the Nazis did to the Jews, but do not go close to hating the whole of Jews. Saying I hate the Jews means I hate some significant figures that shaped me, mine and the larger world. Saying I hate the Jews means I hate Jesus, who in my theology is Isah (AS), needed to authenticate my belief; saying I hate the Jews means I hate Moses (AS), similarly needed; saying I hate the Jews is an ingratitude to Albert Einstein’s contribution to science; saying I hate the Jews is an ingratitude to Sergey Brin, the founder of Google, whose invention has redeemed me in ways I’m incapable of repaying; saying I hate the Jews is also an ingratitude to Mark Zuckerberg whose innovation is the reason you and I are “friends” – even though we’ve never met – sharing thoughts on the ways of the world.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As long as you’re on Facebook, and employ Google to aid your quests for knowledge, both creations of inventors of Jewish identity, declaring that you hate the Jews is a contradiction, a joke clearly on you. And, as Muslims, your faith is threatened the moment you withhold your love for Jesus and Moses.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t let a criminal be a representative of his race, religion and nationality. This approach, this dangerous stereotyping, has been the reason for these many conflicts we are still unable to resolve in this damned world. We must embrace our humanity, the only thing we all have in common, if we’re indeed interested in resolving our racial, religious, political, regional, territorial and ethnic conflicts!</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Unlike you, whenever I see a group of people, the first identity that strikes me is the human, not the religious, not the political, not the racial, and obviously not the ethnic. Aside from my immediate family, my next closest family are the righteous people, people always in pursuit of Justice without discrimination, and of their other identities I’m unmindful.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’ve long overcome the naiveté of hating a people based on the crimes of a group of which they are non-compliant members, just the way I don’t owe any non-Muslim and southerner apology for the atrocities of the Boko Haram. I only owe them explanation, defence, solidarity and empathy. My seeming silence over the killings in Gaza is simply because I’ve also been mourning, and also holed up in a mess of immeasurable depth. The Palestinians, I know, have global solidarity soldiers fighting for them. But, beyond hashtags, who are actually fighting for the redemptions of this place in which we don’t need a visa to reside?</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This week, at our Abuja’s #BringBackOurGirls sit-in, as I listened to Oby Ezekwesili, a woman whose public service records never really attracted my curiosity, but I’ve come to like as a humanist and patriot of impressive resilience, lament on the fate and conditions of the abducted girls and the dysfunctionality of the system in charge of our safety, something within me collapsed. So I withdrew from the crowd, hoping that could stem it, but I still couldn’t fight the tears. And that was how I left the sit-in, broken. This is because, in the cruel politics of migrations in this century, I have no home other than Nigeria, and the tragedy that befalls a fellow countryman, irrespective of his/her religious and ethnic and regional affiliations, is a shared grief.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not inconsiderate to your reference to “brotherhood of faith” in standing for the people of Gaza, but I will never ever stand for them simply because we’re of the same religion. My own version of that excuse of yours is: “faith in the universal brotherhood of Man.” I only empathise with them because of a shared humanity. As for those who rightly explain that humanity has no border, which I also endorse, my belief in yours may only be confirmed if you also recognise the conditions of the Iraqi Christians who’re now fleeing Mosul, for they have been told by the ISIS animals to convert to Islam or lose their lives. Many of you are in Abuja, but participating in #BringBackOurGirls is seen as a “waste of time”, insulting those who defy the tasks of their 9-to-5 daily to be a part of the campaign, ignorant of the impending dangers, the danger of becoming refugees in your own city!</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yet, some of you have sought to typify my refusal to label corpses in order to know which deserves my empathy as simply a bid to earn a medal from the non-Muslims I’ve been struggling so hard, according to you, to impress; some of the same non-Muslims who, in a spark of mischief, have in their turn called me an “Islamic propagandist”, whatever that is, for condemning the profiling of northerners in the East, for endorsing a Muslim as presidential candidate… But I’m indifferent to their malicious labeling just as I’ve been to yours because you’re both incapable of denying me the rights to such expressions.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Humanity is still a joke because of this army of cerebrally malfunctioned brothers and sisters to whom we’re seen as hypocrites merely trying to impress the non-members of our group, for exposing a form of oppressive hypocrisy. Well, my dear friend, I don’t write to influence or change you; my writing is a sport that seeks to prove that I don’t think the way you do, and that the way I think is independent of yours. I hope this would be taken in good faith. May God save us from us!</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">Follow Gimba Kakanda on Twitter using @gimbakakanda</strong></em></div> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"> <h3 class="sd-title" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-style: inherit; 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A Letter to that Nigerian-Palestinian, By Gimba Kakanda

My participation in #BringBackOurGirls shows me the hypocrisy of our Muslim brothers and sisters who, dismissing our hashtags as a gimmi...

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Gaza campaign on pace to become deadliest Israeli conflict in recent years

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <div class="inline-content inline-video" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="466eef32-14ed-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/466eef32-14ed-11e4-ac56-773e54a65906?e=null" style="height: 356px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"></iframe></div> <div class="inline-video-caption" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px;"> <span class="pb-caption" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Editor’s Note: This video contains graphic content. Death toll passes 1,000 as the 12-hour truce allows Gazans to come home only to find more dead. Meanwhile, world leaders gather in Paris to push for an extension of the cease-fire. (Reuters)</span></div> </div> <div class="pb-sig-line hasnt-headshot has-0-headshots hasnt-bio is-not-column" style="padding-bottom: 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="pb-byline" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/sudarsan-raghavan/" style="text-decoration: none;">Sudarsan Raghavan</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/anne-gearan" style="text-decoration: none;">Anne Gearan</a> and Ruth Eglash</span> <span class="pb-timestamp" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">July 27 at 1:49 AM</span> <span class="pb-tool email" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="mailto:raghavans@washpost.com;anne.gearan@washpost.com;Ruth.Eglash@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20'Gaza%20campaign%20on%20pace%20to%20become%20deadliest%20Israeli%20conflict%20in%20recent%20years'" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-envelope" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block;"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors"><span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; top: 5px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1404859412.html#_=1406442550890&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&screen_name=africawriter&show_count=false&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="height: 20px; width: 131px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></span> <span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; top: 5px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1404859412.html#_=1406442550900&id=twitter-widget-1&lang=en&screen_name=agearan&show_count=false&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="height: 20px; width: 114px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></span> <span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; top: 5px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1404859412.html#_=1406442550905&id=twitter-widget-2&lang=en&screen_name=reglash&show_count=false&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="height: 20px; width: 110px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></span></span></span></div> <article><div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="dateline">JERUSALEM —</span> Palestinian and Israeli casualties are mounting at a pace that could surpass any other Israeli conflict in nearly a decade, amid signs of a deepening military and political stalemate driven by diplomatic gridlock, Palestinian militant resilience and the absence of a clear Israeli exit strategy.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The rising death toll in the Gaza Strip conflict propelled U.S. and European diplomats huddled in Paris to call for an extension of a 12-hour humanitarian truce Saturday that had afforded both sides a brief respite from the nearly three-week-old conflict.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Late Saturday, Israel approved a 24-hour extension of the truce but said it would retaliate if Hamas prevented its forces from continuing to destroy tunnel networks through which the militants have attempted to infiltrate Israel. Hamas fighters, though, resumed firing rockets and mortar rounds into Israel.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Israeli soldier was killed early Sunday morning, despite the additional 24-hour cease-fire. The death brings to 43 the number of soldiers killed since Israel started its ground operation in Gaza. While Israel seemed to observe its ceasefire commitment, Hamas continued to fire rockets into Israel, including six rockets fired Sunday morning towards Israel’s second largest city, Tel Aviv.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, rejected the truce extension, saying that any humanitarian cease-fire must include Israeli soldiers withdrawing from Gaza and allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-gallery-embedded" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <div class="pb-feature-ssi-single pb-f-gallery-gallery" data-pb-content-uri="/pb/galleryEmbed/d456d2f8-134c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" data-pb-name="gallery-gallery" id="gallery-embed_1398960200458_283" style="padding: 0px !important;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal wp-volt-gal-p-end-circle wp-volt-gal-promo-stub wp-volt-gal-filters-enabled wp-volt-gal-small" data-category="Foreign" data-commercial-node="world" data-permalink="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/shells-hit-un-run-school-sheltering-evacuees-in-gaza-strip/2014/07/24/d456d2f8-134c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_gallery.html" data-preroll-zone="" data-published="1406402220" data-section="world" data-show-interstitials="true" data-show-preroll="true" data-slug="shells-hit-u.n.-run-school-sheltering-evacuees-in-gaza-strip" data-subsection="" data-title="Gaza Strip residents assess damage" data-uuid="d456d2f8-134c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-bar" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 5px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-nav" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-nav-number" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="wp-volt-gal-nav-number-current" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1</span> of 42</span></div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-nav-buttons" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="wp-volt-gal-nav-button wp-volt-gal-nav-prev" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: -2px; width: 16px;"> </div>  <div class="wp-volt-gal-nav-button wp-volt-gal-nav-next" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: -2px; width: 16px;"> </div> </span></div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; margin: 0px; min-height: 250px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 0px 398px; position: relative;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-photos" style="-webkit-transform: translateX(0%); -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 300ms; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: -webkit-transform 300ms; width: 599px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="An explosion during an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip is pictured from the Israeli border with Gaza before the cease-fire took effect. The death toll in Gaza soared to more than 1,000 as bodies were pulled from the rubble during the 12-hour truce that top diplomats urged Israel and Hamas to extend." data-credit="Ronen Zvulun/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/2014-07-26T093723Z_01_JER104_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="2237" data-ratio="1.532" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="355edd18-14ef-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/2014-07-26T093723Z_01_JER104_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="" data-credit="" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/06/05/Foreign/Images/Warning1004-Copy.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="1600" data-ratio="1.333" data-title=" " data-uuid="7e003cde-ecb2-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/06/05/Foreign/Images/Warning1004-Copy.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian woman hauls a TV that she salvaged from her destroyed home in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/04331547-14210.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="87836168-14ea-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/04331547-14210.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="The rubble of destroyed buildings and homes in the Shijaiyah residential district of Gaza City. " data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Nic6354694.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5610" data-ratio="1.482" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="4364810a-14eb-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Nic6354694.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian rescue officers remove a body from the rubble of a building where at least 20 members of an extended family were killed, including at least 10 children, by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Eyad Baba/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0d0bc.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3504" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="5584e87a-14eb-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0d0bc.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian men leave after they salvaged goods from destroyed houses during a short period of cease-fire in Shijaiyah." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/04331910.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="d2f09706-14ea-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians work at a barber shop that was damaged amid Israeli tank fire and airstrikes." data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Nic6354699.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4680" data-ratio="1.479" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="08671eaa-14eb-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians run after they hear an Israeli tank move from its position behind a hill, close to the border with Israel." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-07b6b.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4560" data-ratio="1.439" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="a964fca0-14eb-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man walks by buildings heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-00660.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5184" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="6bab4b32-14e9-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A man cries upon his return to his family’s house, which was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Beit Hanoun. " data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-09b4b.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5088" data-ratio="1.472" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="802c5178-14e9-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians walk past an unexploded Israeli tank shell outside Beit Hanoun." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/26/Foreign/Images/04331546.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 26, 2014" data-uuid="9a1f63da-14ea-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-title" data-uuid="" style="background-position: 0px -10000px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-holder" style="border: 0px; bottom: 9%; box-sizing: border-box; left: 8%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 503px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> JULY 25, 2014</div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="An Israeli artillery shell is fired from southern Israel into the Gaza Strip. On Friday, Israeli cabinet ministers rejected U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to Israeli news media accounts." data-credit="Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/04330786.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.55" data-title="July 25, 2014  " data-uuid="94b7138c-143d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Smoke billows from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. " data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/Nic6354385.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 25, 2014 " data-uuid="7b99970c-143e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="An Israeli Apache helicopter sets off an anti-missile flare as it approaches Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/04330801.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="1819" data-ratio="1.407" data-title="July 25, 2014 " data-uuid="9089711e-143e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A rocket is fired from the northern Gaza Strip toward Israel. " data-credit="Ronen Zvulun/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/2014-07-25T192717Z_01_JER108_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-ISRAEL-CEASEFIRE.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.565" data-title="July 25, 2014 " data-uuid="0633ef68-143d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="From his hotel suite in Cairo, Secretary of State John F. Kerry talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about terms of a cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. " data-credit="AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/deast_Egypt_Israel_Palestinians_Kerry_US-08450-14213.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5160" data-ratio="1.561" data-title=" July 25, 2014" data-uuid="38067ab4-143e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians throw stones at members of the Israeli army during the funeral of three Palestinians, who medics said were killed during clashes with Israeli troops, in Beit Ommar, a town north of the West Bank city of Hebron. " data-credit="Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/2014-07-25T183957Z_01_GAZ45_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-WESTBANK.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.492" data-title="July 25, 2014 " data-uuid="46d9db76-143e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians in Beit Ommar set fire to an Israeli army outpost during the funeral of three Palestinians, who medics said were killed during clashes with Israeli troops." data-credit="Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/2014-07-25T184848Z_01_GAZ46_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-WESTBANK.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 25, 2014  " data-uuid="27c6130c-143f-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinians set fire to a barricade near an Israeli security guard tower during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron. As the Israeli offensive continues in Gaza, conflict and rioting is beginning to spread to the West Bank. " data-credit="Abed Al Hashlamoun/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/04330979.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.586" data-title=" July 25, 2014" data-uuid="d67d879c-143d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian supporters of Hamas take shelter while clashing with Israeli security forces near Ramallah in the West Bank. " data-credit="Andrew Burton/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/452668202.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 25, 2014  " data-uuid="bb8ad3e8-143f-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="People walk inside a U.N. school where hundreds of families have sought refuge after fleeing their homes following Israeli forces’ strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Adel Hana/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0afd9.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4113" data-ratio="1.406" data-title=" July 25, 2014" data-uuid="dca292dc-143f-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Israeli soldiers walk on a dirt road next to an army deployment near the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. " data-credit="Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Images/Nic6354424.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5022" data-ratio="1.53" data-title=" July 25, 2014" data-uuid="8afb9348-143f-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-title" data-uuid="" style="background-position: 0px -10000px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-holder" style="border: 0px; bottom: 9%; box-sizing: border-box; left: 8%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 503px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> JULY 24, 2014 </div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A crater is seen in the yard of the U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. Shells hit the elementary school, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 100 who were seeking shelter from clashes on the streets outside. Initial reports indicated that the shells came from Israeli tanks. " data-credit="Adel Hana/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0cc36.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014 " data-uuid="f2162d42-134d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A sandal and a pool of blood remain at the site of the strike that hit the U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Adel Hana/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-09829.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="ca7b7d1e-134d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A pool of blood is seen in the U.N.-operated school after the attack. Palestinian officials said he school was filled with women and children who had fled their homes to escape more than two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, the militant Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohammed Saber/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/04328829.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3700" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="9954cc1c-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian family, who fled the U.N. school that was hit by shelling, arrives at the Beit Hanoun hospital." data-credit="Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Nic6353565.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3600" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="f546eed0-134c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son, who died when the U.N. school for refugees was hit." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/04328880.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="4df10722-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man holds a girl who medics said was injured in the shelling at a U.N.-run school sheltering Palestinian refugees." data-credit="Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/2014-07-24T152215Z_01_FOR13_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="e8367930-134d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian doctors check a boy who got injured at the U.N. school, in the overcrowded emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Production/Daily/A-Section/Images/04329041.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 24, 2014 " data-uuid="1fd8967a-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian man carries the body of a 1-year-old baby, who died of wounds sustained after the U.N. school in Beit Hanun was shelled, in the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia." data-credit="Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/TS-Nic6353548.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3600" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="a8006c90-135c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian responders rush two injured babies to the emergency room of the Kamal Adwain hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/04328964.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 24, 2014   " data-uuid="2ab262e8-1352-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian children wounded in the strike on the U.N. school in Beit Hanoun lie on the floor of an emergency room at the Kamal Adwain hospital in Beit Lahiya." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0f75e-14017.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5184" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014   " data-uuid="300ab3f8-1352-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Relatives of Palestinians who medics said were killed in the shelling at a U.N-run school sheltering Palestinian refugees mourn outside a hospital morgue in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohamed Salem/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/2014-07-24T144915Z_01_GAZ56_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-SCHOOL.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.545" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="32cd1fbc-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian mother mourns over the body of her son, Abd al-Karim al-Shibari, who was killed after the U.N. school was hit." data-credit="Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Nic6353566.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5475" data-ratio="1.504" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="f2138278-134c-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian children wounded in the attack on the school lie on the floor of the emergency room at the Kamal Adwain hospital in Beit Lahiya." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0cc63.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5760" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="0d8bb0e2-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian child wounded in the shelling cries at the emergency room of the Kamal Adwain hospital in Beit Lahiya." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-0da71.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4965" data-ratio="1.467" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="1471f5d8-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian helps his injured son at the Kamal Adwain hospital." data-credit="Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/04328928.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="4096" data-ratio="1.499" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="08412a0e-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian girl is treated at a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Mohammed Salem/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/2014-07-24T162823Z_01_GAZ52_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA-SCHOOL.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014 " data-uuid="b66b6178-1351-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo wp-volt-gal-item-loaded" data-buy="false" data-caption="A Palestinian mother comforts her child at a hospital in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip." data-credit="Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/2014-07-24T155323Z_01_FOR15_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="3500" data-ratio="1.5" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="58f2668a-134d-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/2014-07-24T155323Z_01_FOR15_RTRIDSP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.jpg?env=A); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-slide wp-volt-gal-photo" data-buy="false" data-caption="Palestinian children wounded in the attack on the U.N. school in Beit Hanoun lie on the floor of the emergency room of the Kamal Adwain hospital." data-credit="Lefteris Pitarakis/AP" data-image="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/24/Foreign/Images/Mideast_Israel_Palestinians-097fd.jpg?env=A" data-max-width="5552" data-ratio="1.446" data-title="July 24, 2014  " data-uuid="03adbd54-134e-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 599px;"> </div> </span></div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: visibility 300ms ease 0ms, opacity 300ms; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: visibility 300ms ease 0ms, opacity 300ms; visibility: hidden; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-backdrop" style="-webkit-filter: blur(15px); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: contain; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: -1px 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-gradient" style="background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 100%); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-holder" style="border: 0px; bottom: 9%; box-sizing: border-box; left: 8%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 503px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-title-subtitle" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-ad" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 300ms, visibility 300ms; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 10px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: opacity 300ms, visibility 300ms; visibility: hidden; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-ad-wrap" style="background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 1px solid rgb(51, 51, 51); box-sizing: border-box; height: 252px; left: 50%; margin: -126px 0px 0px -151px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 50%; width: 302px;"> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-preroll" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 300ms, visibility 300ms; background-image: url(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/projects/supergrid/img/loading-black-100x100.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 398px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 10px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: opacity 300ms, visibility 300ms; visibility: hidden; width: 599px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-preroll-video" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 378px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 579px;"> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-preroll-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-details" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-details-wrap" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 120px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-details-main" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="wp-volt-gal-blurb" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The conflict’s devastation has left bomb craters and impassable streets. </span></div> <div class="wp-volt-gal-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="wp-volt-gal-caption-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">July 26, 2014</span><span class="wp-volt-gal-caption-text" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An explosion during an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip is pictured from the Israeli border with Gaza before the cease-fire took effect. The death toll in Gaza soared to more than 1,000 as bodies were pulled from the rubble during the 12-hour truce that top diplomats urged Israel and Hamas to extend.</span> <span class="wp-volt-gal-caption-credit" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ronen Zvulun/Reuters</span></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before the truce began Saturday morning, six Israeli soldiers were killed in battles across the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military said. Meanwhile, Palestinian deaths rose to more than 1,035 on Saturday, according to Gaza health officials, a dramatic increase since the beginning of the ground incursion. In Israel’s 2009 Gaza offensive, about 1,400 Palestinians were killed.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: 250px; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_6" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Increasingly, the conflict is becoming a war of attrition, military and intelligence analysts say, resembling Israel’s war with Lebanon more than its previous conflicts with Hamas in 2009 and 2012. In Lebanon, too, casualties on both sides were high. Hamas, like Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, has shown a determination to confront Israel with well-trained fighters, clear combat strategies and rockets — as well as its tunnel networks, the destruction of which is Israel’s stated objective.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now, Israel is confronting the same kinds of divisive questions it faced in Lebanon: What are its goals in Gaza? And how long does it intend to remain there to achieve them? The questions underscore the country’s dilemma, torn between wanting a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/26/why-cease-fire-is-such-a-difficult-word-in-the-current-israel-hamas-conflict/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com">durable cease-fire</a> and wanting to destroy Hamas’s ability to torment Israelis.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The more you drag on, the more you stay there, the more the exit strategy becomes a blur,” said Yossi Melman, an Israeli intelligence analyst. “We will be trapped there, and we will have more casualties. If we don’t have a clear vision of what we want to achieve, we unwittingly will find ourselves reoccupying Gaza again.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Neither side, nor any of the diplomats seeking an end to the crisis, wants that. In Paris, envoys from Qatar, Turkey, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and the United States worked late into the night Saturday in an attempt to win an extension of the cease-fire, despite the reignited tensions.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They view a truce lasting several days — the goal of diplomatic efforts that fell short last week in Cairo — as a bridge to a sustainable cease-fire that would clear a path to addressing both sides’ demands. Israel wants to see Hamas demilitarized, while Hamas’s core demand is the lifting of Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_2" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_8__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_8" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_8" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry met first with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, one of two key go-betweens for the United States, which is barred from direct contacts with Hamas leaders. “Palestinians need to live with dignity, freedom, with goods that can come in and out, and they need a life that is free from the current restraints that they feel on a daily basis, and obviously free from violence,” Kerry told reporters a day after his efforts to install a week-long truce fell short.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-graphic" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/gaza-rockets/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img class="" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Graphics/crossfire.jpg?uuid=m2KpUhRNEeSsVnc-VKZZBg" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Graphics/crossfire.jpg?uuid=m2KpUhRNEeSsVnc-VKZZBg" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/07/25/Foreign/Graphics/crossfire.jpg?uuid=m2KpUhRNEeSsVnc-VKZZBg" style="border: 0px; width: 599px;" /></a><br /><span class="pb-caption">Graphic: See how many rockets Hamas has launched into Israel and how many targets Israel has struck in Gaza</span></span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even that oblique reference to the Israeli grip on Hamas-ruled Gaza was unusual for the United States, Israel’s principal ally and international defender.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“At the same time, Israelis need to live free from rockets and the tunnels that threaten them,” Kerry said, adding, “Every conversation we had embraces a discussion about these competing interests that are real for both.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kerry met with the foreign minister of Qatar later in the day. Qatar is well placed as an intermediary, since the rich Persian Gulf state is presumed to fund Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, and hosts leader Khaled Meshal. Qatar is the likely source of funds to pay suspended salaries for government workers in Gaza, which cash-strapped Hamas has been unable to do.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a diplomatic breakthrough was sought, Gazans seized advantage of the pause in fighting. In the three hardest-hit towns, residents rushed back to gather belongings and search for missing relatives after 24 hours of intense fighting and heavy bombing by Israel that left deep impact craters where apartment blocks once stood.<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/depth-of-gaza-devastation-becomes-clear-after-cease-fire/2014/07/26/a5a01702-14c9-11e4-9285-4243a40ddc97_story.html?hpid=z2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" title="www.washingtonpost.com"> Whole neighborhoods were transformed</a> intoacres of twisted metal and concrete dust. More than 100 bodies were pulled from the rubble.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_3" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_10" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the Shijaiyah neighborhood, east of central Gaza City, three brothers stood at the edge of a deep crater left by a large Israeli bomb. The day before it was their four-story apartment house, home to 30 family members. “We have nothing left,” said one of the brothers, Said Helou, 32, a baker.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yussif Abid al-Hamid, an emergency medical technician, said it would take more than 12 hours to dig the bodies out from the debris. “We need heavy equipment here,” he said. “We need earthmovers. We can’t dig with our bare hands.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In southern Israel, where most of the Hamas rockets land, residents also welcomed the pause.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“All of a sudden you could hear the birds again,” said Adele Raemer, who lives in Kibbutz Nirim, nestled along the border.</span></div> <div channel="!Daily" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the nearby farming community of Netiv Ha’asara, Roni Keidar and her husband were making preparations for a mourning ceremony for one of their employees, a Thai worker killed Wednesday by a Hamas mortar lobbed from Gaza. He was the third civilian to be killed on the Israeli side.</span></div> <div channel="!Daily" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It’s been a dreadful week,” Keidar said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even as it faces diplomatic pressure to agree to a durable truce, Israel has given mixed signals about its exit strategy from Gaza. Some Israeli military officials say they have a limited goal: to destroy Hamas’s vast tunnel network, which could take days, even weeks. Other government officials say they want to keep pressure on Hamas, entering deeper into urban areas to weaken it. That could embroil Israel in Gaza for weeks, possibly months.</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_4" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; margin: -20px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_11__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_11" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/701/wpni.world_11" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" width="300"></iframe></span></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It is clear that, at least as far as the Israeli army is concerned, Israel’s work has not been accomplished yet,” said Giora Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, adding that the humanitarian cease-fire will “reduce pressure on Hamas.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Demilitarization should be the end goal, and everything short of that would be a mistake for Israel,” Eiland added.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Melman, the analyst, said he hoped there was “no hidden agenda to topple the Hamas regime,” because that could lead to more-radical militants taking control. “After Hamas, you could have ISIS,” he said, referring to the Islamic State, the group that has seized large swaths of Iraq.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It would be virtually impossible, he added, to get Hamas to give up its weapons. In killing 42 Israeli soldiers, Hamas already believes it is the victor and has the upper hand, he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The U.N.-brokered deal that ended the Lebanon war called for Hezbollah to be disarmed. Today, it is believed to be stronger than ever, its rockets still pointed at Israel.</span></div> <div class="trailer" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 24px;"> </div> <div class="trailleft" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Gearan reported from Paris. William Booth in Gaza City contributed to this report.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> </div> </article><div class="post-body-sig-line" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 20px;"> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/sudarsan-raghavan/" style="color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none;"></a></div> </div>

Gaza campaign on pace to become deadliest Israeli conflict in recent years

Editor’s Note: This video contains graphic content. Death toll passes 1,000 as the 12-hour truce allows Gazans to come home only to fi...

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