There is much discussion among Palestinians as to why this sudden increase in pressure on Gaza is happening now.
Some say Israel is preparing for a big invasion; others feel there is an element of political posturing ahead of an Israeli general election in February.
Many will tell you that they feel a time of deep division in Palestinian society is being taken advantage of.
Few take Israel's explanation, that it is only protecting its citizens from the horror of rocket attacks, at face value.
"Isn't it enough that their army kills the people who fire rockets?" asks Mr Bassam Nasser, who works for an American development agency.
"We are not responsible, so why are we all being punished? It makes no sense."
He talks of the long-term impact on children in Gaza, including his own, aged six, five and two.
"It's getting harder for us to answer our childrens' questions about the situation, without instilling hatred in their minds about the people responsible for our suffering," he says.
He does not just mean the Israeli government.
"People here see everyone as responsible for their miserable lives. They see Israel closing Gaza, but they also see people around the world doing nothing.
"They see Hamas making things worse by using the blockade as an excuse not to be accountable, and they do whatever they like.
"People see the silence of the PA, [the Fatah-dominated Palestinian government in the West Bank] and blame them too," he says.
"It's so hard to see where the hope is, and so hard to stop these conditions breeding more hatred."
