Sagy, a former pilot with the Israeli Air Force made the switch to commercial brewing in 2008, although he says he had been home brewing for about 30 years. “Now I’m trying to make peace in another way,” he said, with a smile. “Through beer.” Eitan Weiss, head of public diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel, matched Sagy with Fournier, who founded the craft beer festival, as a means of bridging cultures through beer.

From the Israeli perspective, there’s some public diplomacy benefit here. The world is being somewhat distracted from what’s going on in Gaza, and now Israel is not the only country bombing Islamic extremists. But these are small comforts at best. Europe, in particular, seems to have gotten fed up with the IDF’s operations in Gaza, even as it declares its understanding for Israel’s right to defend itself. And despite the renewal of rocket fire, even the United States is expecting Israel to come to some long-term agreement with Hamas.

Thanks to flimsy copyright laws in the region, Israeli and Palestinian television stations routinely tap into each other’s transmissions and broadcast them to their viewers. Since Gazans and Israelis are barred from entering each other’s territories, this swap of feeds often stands in for reporters on the ground.

As the deaths in Gaza from targeted Israeli bombings steadily mount, international public opinion appears to be turning against Israel.  A large demonstration of slogan-shouting angry activists holding placards condemning Israel was yesterday outside the Israeli Embassy on High Street Kensington.

Maysoon Khatib's Facebook page is usually devoted to fun-filled images and anecdotes detailing her sometimes harried life as a mother of four children.  But lately, the Kentucky woman's social media posts have taken a somber turn. Instead of snapshots of her kids at summer camp, Khatib is sharing urgent messages about the destruction thousands of miles away in Gaza.

More and more people take to Twitter to share their experiences and emotions.  On the week starting Monday 28 July 2014, Gaza is bombarded by Israel. One Gaza resident calls it "the worst night in this war".  Residents in Israel have their own problems as they face rocket attacks from Gaza. Sirens go off throughout the night, forcing many Israelis to flee to bomb shelters.