War, some say, is the purview of men, but women and children certainly aren’t immune, a sad fact made clear in the current Gaza crisis.

The United Nations estimates that 660 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its attacks on Hamas militants nearly two weeks ago. And, sadly, many of those are women and children. According to the international institution, 215 children have died in the Gaza scuffle, while about 98 women have been struck down. That number may only rise after Israeli troops bombarded a UN-run school yesterday. 

Israel says Hamas had holed up in the school, where frightened Palestinians sought shelter, and were launching rockets at Israeli troops, thus spurring the deadly retaliation. At least 30 people have been killed, and many of them were children. Here are some more of the entirely upsetting details:

Israel said the high death toll at the UN school was caused by booby traps that had been set by terrorists inside the facility, which was being used a shelter by Palestinians.

"Hamas and its senior commanders are turning their citizens into bulletproof vests for their personal use," an Israeli army spokesman said.

Palestinian witnesses in Jebaliya said the incident began after a group of terrorists fired mortars from a street near the UN-run al-Fakhora girls school and fled into a crowd of people.

Israel then opened fire with its own artillery and struck the school with mortar shells …

UN officials said 55 people were injured in the explosions. Accounts of the number of dead ranged from 30 to 42.

Gruesome hospital footage was aired by Hamas’s Al Aqsa TV.

"I saw women and men — parents — slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead," said Majed Hamdan, an Associated Press photographer. "In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn’t enough space for the wounded."

Regardless of where one stands on the Gaza situation, this conflict will go down as one of the saddest and bloodiest in the seemingly endless war. There has been, at least, a bit of a reprieve, however, as Israel ceased attacks for a few hours today to let aid in for ailing Gaza residents.

Meanwhile, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy have drawn up a ceasefire agreement, but discussions are still very preliminary. Cross your fingers for a diplomatic miracle!