Where do things currently stand in the Gaza strip?
Israel s 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip ended with both sides declaring unilateral ceasefires on Jan. 18. But there have been almost daily exchanges of fire since then. Some 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the war along with 13 Israelis. Israel said it launched the campaign to halt cross-border rocket attacks by militants. The Hamas Islamist group won parliamentary elections in 2006 and a year later routed forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seize the Gaza Strip. Abbas then set up a Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank, where his Fatah faction remains dominant. What is stopping Israel and Hamas from reaching a deal? Israel and Hamas refuse to negotiate directly and Egyptian efforts to secure a longer-term truce have met resistance on both sides. Much depends on the fate of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid in 2006. Israel has made his release a condition for entering a longer-term ceasefire
