I won't repeat much of the war news that's on the site. I'll leave that to the news, though I doubt much of what they say is accurate. Things are moving very quickly, there's a lot to cover, they don't have full access, and most important, the pictures that grab are the ones of buildings being hit, not women and children huddled scared but relatively safe in Israel's bomb shelters and stairwells.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Capt. Benjamin Rutland announces the entrance of IDF forces into Gaza with the objective of dealing a heavy blow to Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure and rocket-launching capability.

While the IDF land forces entered into the Gaza strip and murdered at least 30 people, in Tel Aviv over 50 thousand Israeli Jews and Palestinians marched to protest against the war from Rabin Square to the cinemateque.

Foreign Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni left for Paris on Thursday morning for meetings with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France who plans to come next week to Israel.

I was sent a video that covered two individuals' POV sound-bytes, Ahmed, a human-right activist and Eli Lazer, a Rabbi (video is below). What I found especially intriguing in this NBC video (see below), other than Ahmed's solid performance, were the comments of the Rabbi Eli Lazer, a University Professor. Rabbi Lazer calls the Gaza massacre part of "Islam's war against those who don't believe in their religion".

"After a successful rally and press conference denouncing Israel's attacks on the people of Gaza, protesters demanded a meeting with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D MN) and called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. Over 40 protesters are now occupying a conference room in her office, and after an hour, she has agreed to meet with them," reports OpEd News.

Israel has rejected an immediate 48-hour cease-fire with Hamas, saying it will push ahead with its military assault on the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials say Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense and foreign ministers made the decision after discussing the French-proposed truce during a meeting overnight.

The pro-Hamas activists sailing on "The Dignity" relief boat were rammed by an Israeli ship. They did not heed the warnings by the Israelis to turn back away from the war zone. The former Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney is reported to be in the boat. Our calls to the Green Party did not result in any extra information. The person who picked up the phone said the press officer is out of the country.

Israeli public news agency REKA reports that Egypt presents ceasefire draft to Turkey for consideration by Hamas.

Civilian toll mounts in Gaza, reports REKA Israel. Gilad Shalit reported wounded. Israeli air strikes destroy 40 tunnels and reservists are called up.

Defense Minister of Israel Ehud Barak declared that Israel was in an "all-out war against Hamas." Speaking in Monday morning's special Knesset session on the war, Barak said, "We have nothing against Gaza residents but we are engaged in an all-out war against Hamas and its proxies."

In the usual process, the U.S. government, media here - and most liberal bloggers - are silent or playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts.