Israelis, Gazans fire back on Twitter, Facebook

The conflict between Israel and Palestinian people living in Gaza and the West Bank, long simmering, has again flared up in an exchange of rocket fire--and rapidly fired tweets.

As the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas sniped at each other across various social media platforms, bystanders tweeted from on the ground, on both sides of the conflict.

A tweet with a photo of the 11-month-old son, killed by shrapnel in Gaza, of a BBC journalist, has been re-tweeted more than 800 times.

This was Jihad's 11 month old son Omar who was killed in #Gaza yesterday when a shell came through the roof twitter.com/pdanahar/statu…

— Paul Danahar (@pdanahar) November 15, 2012

Two hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tweeted, in an apparent response, a blurred photo of a bloodied Israeli child, allegedly injured by Palestinian rocket fire. His tweet been reposted nearly 800 times as well.

I saw today a picture of a bleeding Israeli baby. #Hamas deliberately targets our children bit.ly/W9uYkA twitter.com/netanyahu/stat…

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) November 15, 2012

Online troublemaker Anonymous weighed in on the conflict by using their favorite method--hacking. Anonymous launched a cyberattack it's calling #OpIsrael, defacing and taking down sites run by Israel and the IDF.

Stop bombing Gaza! Millions of Israelis and Palestinians are lying awake, exposed and terrified. We Anonymous will not sit back and watch a cowardly Zionist State demolish innocent people's lives. We have taken your top security and surveillance website down.

We are Anonymous We are Legion We never Forgive We never Forget Israel Expect us

In terms of traditional firepower, Israeli forces have a significant advantage of Hamas. But sentiment online seams to lean toward Palestinians, with the anti-Israeli hashtag #GazaUnderAttack and a mixed bag of #HamasBumperStickers trending in the U.S.

#GazaUnderAttack I am embarrassed to be an American today. How can we sit and watch innocent civilians murdered in Gaza, again? #PrayforGaza

— Moe Diab(@Moe_Diab) November 14, 2012

Let the Palestinians live in peace, not die in pieces. Stop the oppression. #PrayForGaza #GazaUnderAttack

— Nader نادر (@BonsaiSky) November 15, 2012

It's always the civilians who get shafted. Enough is enough. #PrayForGaza #GazaUnderAttack

— Nader نادر (@BonsaiSky) November 15, 2012

One would think if you were being used as shield, you'd complain to the world--here's your chance #Gazaunderattack #Prayforisrael

— Cecily Hilleary (@VOAHilleary) November 15, 2012

I don't care if they sound the same. 'Salam' means peace. 'Shalom' means war. #ProudPalestinian #StopIsrael #GazaUnderAttack

— Abeer Hassan (@AbbeyHassan) November 15, 2012

#HamasBumperStickers what bumper stickers? They're all burnt by missiles.

— Jon (@DarkRazorZ) November 15, 2012

Warning: This Vehicle Stops at RailRoad Xings, Jewish Elementary Schools and Crowded Tel Aviv Coffee Shops #HamasBumperStickers

— Mattphilbin (@Mattphilbin) November 15, 2012

#HamasBumperStickers Sticks and stones may break your bones but I kill women and children

— DANEgerus (@DANEgerus) November 15, 2012

#HamasBumperStickersHonk if you want to see my rocket launcher

— PorgieFirefighter (@PorgieFirefight) November 15, 2012

#HamasBumperStickers Standing behind our women and children since 1987

— nytflyr (@nytflyr) November 15, 2012

Jews - They Occupied Places Before It Was Cool.#HamasBumperStickers

— Chris McDevitt (@chrismcdevitt) November 15, 2012