NadimBabaAJE

I don't think the right word is bias. I think it's a style or a tone. All channels have them. I think Al Jazeera (English, since that's who I'm working for) leans towards stories about people who are struggling, who are at the bottom when it comes to wealth, opportunities or rights. But then I would say that, I'm biased.

I think the population is sceptical about any such warnings. It is very hard not to be "near Hamas". Hamas is the government. It runs the social services, the police, the schools, the refuse collection, etc., etc.. So staying away from Hamas does not mean much. Having said that, people are wary of being near certain sites such as the Prime Minister's office, which has now been bombed. But if you happen to live near such sites, your options are not great. If you have relatives elsewhere you could stay with them but once again space is limited as Palestinians typically have large immediate family, lots of children. Remember the Gaza Strip is maybe just 45 kilometres long so very densely populated. .

The atmosphere is very tense. The streets are usually busy with traffic pretty much all the time- now they are very very quiet (that goes for the sound of street vendors too). In many parts of Gaza people have found it impossible to sleep because of the huge blasts (airstrikes) and families are sleeping together in one room. Palestinian families in Gaza tend to have many children. The young ones don't understand the bombardment but some have memories of the 2008-2009 Israeli "Operation Cast Lead" which traumatised many children in Gaza. So, with all the talk of Israel calling up reservists and so on some people are truly worried about what will happen. Not all expect a ground attack, some say it's too big a gamble for Israel's army. Anyway, support for Hamas is hard to truly measure but since the assassination of Ahmed Jabari I think Hamas has gained kudos among the armed factions for taking immediate action, launching rockets towards Israel etc. It had been under increasing criticism for its internal performance, and this episode of violence has allowed it to appear strong and take the reigns of the "resistance".

hi, 1: How politically aware and internationally-minded young Gazans (or Palestinians of Gaza if you prefer) are. It really saddens me to see how hard, if not impossible, it is for most to take advantage of chances to travel abroad to study or just to see the world. There is a high level of education here and given the poor chances of a well-paid job, it must be extremely frustrating to put it mildly. It must be hard to accept or understand. Maybe things will change if Egypt eases travel restrictions through Rafah but I'm not making predictions here.

I really want to answer this question but I honestly find it hard to guage. Clearly Israel could launch one if it wanted (I'm talking war-readiness). But not everybody in Israel wants a ground invasion. And leading politicians accept it will be hard to keep such an operation short and painless for the Israeli military.