Israeli soldiers wait at a bus stop near Kibbutz Saad outside southern Gaza August 3, 2014. Israel began its air and naval offensive against Gaza on July 8 following a surge of cross-border rocket salvoes by Hamas and other guerrillas, later escalating the operation into ground incursions.The fighting on Sunday pushed the Gaza death toll given by Palestinian officials to 1,726, most of them civilians. Israel has confirmed that 64 soldiers have died in combat, while Palestinian rockets have also killed three civilians in Israel. The sign on the right reads in Hebrew "To the soldiers thank you for protecting us!" REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT)