Demonstrations in Israel have both supported and objected to Israeli actions, with protestors angrily confronting each other. Protestors in Europe, Canada and the United States have been similarly split. In Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, people protested the deaths of innocent Palestinians.

Right after Israel began bombing Gaza, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released a statement condemning the Israeli attack for causing so many civilian casualties. He also called on both sides to stop all violence immediately. On January 6, after Israeli military strikes hit three UN schools in Gaza, Ban strongly upbraided Israel once again. The Vatican also criticized Israeli behavior, comparing Gaza to "a big concentration camp." EU leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, who assumed the European Union's rotating presidency on January 1, flew to the Middle East to mediate. But none of these measures stopped Israeli rockets.

The war is also playing out on the Internet in unprecedented ways. Israel has used websites like YouTube and Twitter to conduct a propaganda war defending its actions. Supporters on both sides have engaged in a war of words on Facebook, and the war has even spilled into the virtual world Second Life, where hostile protesters converged on virtual Israel. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian organizations and netizens released information and images of the suffering in Gaza. It was reported that hundreds of thousands of people have participated in the virtual war on the Internet.

On January 8, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 1860, calling for an immediate ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal. The resolution also demanded unimpeded access for humanitarian aid. But mediation efforts have been unsuccessful so far.

Prospects for war and peace

Neither Israel nor Hamas will agree to a ceasefire unless certain conditions are met.

Judging from the current situation, military activity in Gaza will continue for some time. Israel has realized its major goal of striking Hamas. The war has destroyed hundreds of Hamas operations centers and infrastructure facilities, including government buildings, police stations, mosques, schools, hospitals and residences. The fighting has also killed senior Hamas leaders such as Nizar Rayyan and Abu Zakaria al-Jamal. But Israel will continue its military activity in Gaza in spite of international pressure, so as to reach its strategic target of occupying a dominant position in future negotiations.

Hamas has vowed revenge, but it has limited ability to resist Israel's powerful offensive. The victories Hamas obtains will be political and spiritual rather than military triumphs.

During peacetime, Hamas does not have high support among Palestinians. But every time Israel attacks, Hamas wins more supporters and sympathizers. The Gaza war will push Palestinians weary of civilian deaths into Hamas's welcoming arms. Instead of reducing the potential for future violence, this war has increased it.

A more urgent problem is Gaza's dangerous humanitarian crisis. The Gaza Strip was under an Israeli blockade long before the war began. With only the Rafah checkpoint connecting Egypt in the south, and the Erez checkpoint connecting Israel in the north, material supplies are difficult to obtain. Gaza's public facilities including transportation, water and power supply and hospitals-which were already under strain from the blockade-have now been mostly destroyed, putting the Palestinians at great risk.

Even if the war ends, Israel will not withdraw immediately. It believes that if it does so, Hamas will get a chance to catch its breath. Then, not only can Hamas recover quickly, it can mobilize more resistance forces.

But Israel cannot occupy the Gaza Strip forever, either. Israel would have to maintain a large military presence there to fend off endless attacks by Palestinian resistance forces. Further repression will fuel Palestinian resistance and draw worldwide condemnation. Therefore, Israel will choose the best opportunity to pull out of the Gaza Strip after the war ends.

History proves that violence is not the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it will make the road to peace even rougher. Israel now dominates the peace process. Both sides must be prepared to compromise, but Israel's political willingness and policies are more crucial.

After several generations' efforts, the Jewish nation has become a normal nation. But Israel is still not a normal state, because it remains disassociated from its neighbors in the Middle East. Only by solving the Palestinian problem with justice can Israel truly become a member of Middle East society, and permanent peace be realized in the region.

The author is Director of the Division of Middle East Studies at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences