A large plume of smoke rises into the sky above the northern end of the Gaza Strip, seen from Sderot in Israel. Fighting rages in Gaza for the 29th day since Hamas militants stormed across the border and, according to Israeli officials, killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and abducted more than 240 others. Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory saying 9,488 people have been killed, about two-thirds of them women and children. IMAGES