Top 10 world news events in 2008

10. Mideast peace process heavily frustrated by Israeli airstrikes

Smoke rises after an Israel air strike in Gaza December 28, 2008. Israel launched air strikes on Gaza for a second successive day on Sunday, piling pressure on Hamas after 285 people were killed in one of the bloodiest 24 hours for Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state.

On Dec. 27, the Israeli army carried out large-scale air raids on Gaza hitting dozens of targets run by the Islamic Hamas movement. The action was in response to Hamas' ongoing cross-border rocket and mortar shell attacks on Israel, the Israeli army said.

So far, Israel's airstrikes have killed at least 345 people and wounded more than 1,600 others, becoming one of the most bloodiest events to have occurred in the volatile region since the 1967 War in which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip. The Israeli airstrikes have seriously set back the Middle East peace process.