Since dawn broke last Saturday, thousands have died and the political fallout has spread across the region. Observer reporters tell the full story of a week that began in blood and ends in fear
The sun was spreading its rays across the desert in southern Israel last Saturday morning when sirens wailed and rockets thudded. But at an all-night festival at a kibbutz near the Gaza border, the sounds blended with the music and the people danced on.
A few miles to the west, hundreds of Hamas forces had breached the hi-tech security fence that surrounds Gaza, a narrow strip of land blockaded by land, sea and air where 2.3 million Palestinians live mostly in misery and hardship.
