Sixty Palestinians dead, and one Israeli soldier. Tens of thousands of civilians trapped without electricity or water by the most extensive military occupation of the Gaza Strip since the intifada began four years ago. The demolition of homes, roads and power lines that typically accompanies Israeli assaults on Gaza's refugee camps.
Israel's Operation Days of Penitence may seem a disaster for Hamas and its allies. But yesterday it was Ariel Sharon who appeared on the defensive as the battle around Jabaliya, the birthplace of the first Palestinian uprising 17 years ago, evolved into more than a struggle to prevent Hamas launching the rudimentary Qassam rockets that killed two young children in Israel last week.
The outcome of the incursion by about 200 tanks, bulldozers and armoured vehicles, backed by helicopters and missile-firing drones, could decide whether Mr Sharon fulfils his pledge to pull thousands of Jewish settlers and Israel's military bases out of the Gaza Strip next year.
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