On December 27th, Israel launched an offensive into the nearby Gaza Strip in an effort to stop the bombings of Israeli territory that had been going on since December 19th. Hamas, the organization that claims responsibility for the bombings, is a Palestinian group based in Gaza. Their primary objectives include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and reduced Israeli influence on the day-to-day affairs in Gaza.
Despite the 10-day military operation that Israel has mounted against Hamas, rockets are still being fired into parts of southern Israel. According to a Palestinian medical source, over 530 Palestinians have been killed and 2,750 have been injured since the beginning of the campaign. Neither side is considering a cease-fire in the immediate future, despite international pressure to do so. France and the European Union have been particularly active in this regard.
According to the Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, "Before the military operation, the equation was that Hamas targets Israelis whenever it likes, and Israel shows restraint. This is not going to be [any] longer the equation in this region. When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate."
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar has similar feelings, "They [Israeli forces] shelled everyone in Gaza. ... They shelled children and hospitals and mosques. And in doing so, they gave us legitimacy to strike them in the same way."
Tensions between Palestine and Israel have been high since Israel was made into an independent state in 1948, taking much of what had previously been Palestinian territory. The Gaza Strip region was under Israeli control until 1994, when it became autonomous under the authority of the Palestinian National Authority as part of the Oslo Accords. The area has been highly contested between the two cultures since then with violence such as this occasionally breaking out.
Sources: www.cnn.com, www.msnbc.com
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