The forgotten zone

London Times:

Three young girls and a disabled man were among 16 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip today.

Fighting broke out just before dawn when at least 30 tanks and other armoured vehicles drove into Jabalya in northern Gaza.

The death toll in Gaza today was the highest for two weeks. Among those killed were seven Hamas militants and one gunman from the Islamic Jihad faction.

Medics said a three-year-old girl, named locally as Barah Habib, and six other people were killed, including a disabled man.

In a separate incident also in northern Gaza, a five-year-old girl and her eight-month-old sister where killed when an artillery shell landed on their house, hospital officials said.

At least 40 people were also wounded, six critically, in the fighting. Among them was Ibrahim Al-Atla, 25, a cameraman for the Palestinian television, who was hit in the back by shrapnel.

Israel may be preoccupied elsewhere, but there's always time to kill a few more Palestinians. The best part about it, for the IDF, is that nobody seems to care.

Also note this, coming from the "liberal" Guardian's account of the same incidents:

The Gaza crisis, which began on June 25 when Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and captured a third, has been overshadowed by events in Lebanon and northern Israel. Israeli attacks have damaged hundreds of buildings and killed more than 140 people including many civilians. Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza except for emergency supplies.

As ever, the Middle East only enters a "crisis" mode when bad things happen to Israel.

By this account, things went swimmingly throughout June. Sure, 49 Palestinians were killed by Israel prior to the 25th. But they don't matter; they're "unpeople."