Israel's assault on northern Gaza over the last six days is just as large-scale and destructive as previous operations there and on West Bank towns over the last year, but international reaction has been much more muted than before.
Over 60 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded as 2,000 Israeli troops, 200 tanks and concentrated air power have been directed against targets in the Jabalya refugee camp, where 90,000 people are crammed into three square kilometres - one of the most crowded townships in the world. Inevitably there will be huge casualties in such a disproportionate conflict.
The subdued international reaction is partly explained by the fact that the operation was provoked by the despicable killing of two young children in the Israeli town of Sderot in a rocket attack launched from Gaza and claimed by the Hamas resistance movement. But it is also because the more severe violence in Iraq has overshadowed this Israeli operation and because the US presidential election has diverted the attention of the principal international players with an interest in the conflict. As a result the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, feels little constraint on his plan to deal a lethal military blow against Hamas prior to the proposed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza next year.
Withdrawal is bitterly contested by the right-wing in his Likud party. They say Israel will be seen to retreat under attack - which will encourage a further escalation of military operations against Israeli targets and the collapse of Gaza into an abiding hotbed of militancy. To forestall this the Israeli occupation should continue and the 8,000 settlers stay put. Mr Sharon believes that is unsustainable in the long run. He prefers to consolidate Israel's more strategic occupation of the West Bank and deal with the Palestinian leadership from a position of strength, bolstered by domestic and international support for his plan to withdraw from Gaza.
This operation therefore has a clear political purpose as well as a military one and could last weeks or months according to Israeli defence sources. It is intended to eliminate Hamas's capacity to mount such attacks by breaking up its organisational base in the Jabalya camp so that Israel is not seen to withdraw from Gaza under fire. There are plans to create a huge buffer zone which would put Israeli towns and villages out of range of rockets fired from Gaza.
Such a military solution to a fundamentally political problem is misconceived and incapable of resolving the issues at stake. Hamas would be better outflanked by reopening the peace process with the mainstream Palestinian leadership, harnessing it to the continuing desire of most Israelis for a peaceful two-state settlement and the international goodwill that would accompany such a process. Mr Sharon will come under pressure to go this route next year and wants to defeat Hamas before then. But these tactics are more likely to reinforce its appeal.