Israel began launching air strikes on Gaza in late December.

The Middle East is once again the scene of a terrible conflict. The conflict is taking place in Israel, shown on the globe here, and in a tiny area within Israel called Gaza. Most people in Gaza are Palestinians. Have you heard about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? This conflict is a very long and very complicated one. The government of Gaza is controlled by a group called Hamas. The people of Gaza elected Hamas leaders in 2006. Hamas runs schools and hospitals that help Palestinians. But Hamas also fires rockets across the border into Israel. Hamas is angry at Israel partly because of Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel tightly controls Gaza's borders and blocks many shipments of supplies, including fuel and food, into Gaza. The United Nations says this blockade has caused a terrible situation in Gaza, where most live in very poor conditions. Israel says the blockade is to prevent bombs and weapons being smuggled into Gaza.

Last year, Hamas and Israel agreed to a six-month ceasefire. For about five months, there was relative quiet, although Israel maintained its complete blockade of Gaza. But the situation began to fall apart in November, when Israeli forces launched an air strike in Gaza after uncovering what it said was a tunnel meant to be used to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Six Palestinians were killed. In response, Hamas launched rockets into Isreal and the ceasefire collapsed.In late December, Israel began major air strikes against Gaza, aiming to disable or destroy Hamas completely. Because Israel has much more powerful weapons than Hamas, many more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed. At press time, Hamas rockets had killed at least three Israelis in the recent conflict, and the Israeli attacks had killed nearly 800 Palestinians, and wounded at least 3000, including many women and children. Many world leaders have called for a truce between the two sides. But, at press time, Israel had refused. Do you know if a truce has been called?