Desc :Israel's assault on Gaza has continued into a sixth day, and the death toll has risen to more than 400 people.
According to Israel, it is targeting Hamas' military infrastructure, such as rocket launchers and rocket factories. Also under attack are what the Israeli military calls "suspected hideouts" that, for some, are the most disputed targets, because almost anything can be suspected as a hiding place for weapons or Hamas fighters.
In practice, government buildings, mosques, the Islamic university of Gaza and a refugee camp have come under attack.
After Israel's subjecting Gaza to an aerial pounding for several consecutive days, many Gazans are asking if police stations and government buildings have been, what are now the targets for the continuing bombardment?
Many Gazans feel that they themselves are the targets. The Israeli authorities have been accessing the phone networks and making automated calls telling the people of Gaza to leave their homes as an attack in their area is imminent, and this is creating a climate of fear and despair, as the people are unable to travel north into Israel and they are unable to travel south into Egypt as the borders are closed, and to their West they are bordered by the sea.
The difficulty for both the Israeli military and the Gaza residents is: The entire Gaza Strip is just 10 km wide and 40 km long and has a population of one and a half million, which makes it one of the most densely populated spots on earth. Civilian casualties are unavoidable.
Today's Inside Story presenter Nick Clark is joined by Raanan Gissen, a former Israeli Defense Force official and senior advisor to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; Elias Hanna, a retired army general and military analyst; and Ehab Bessaiso, a lecturer in political communications at Cardiff University.(al Jazeera)