While Gaza's beleaguered hospitals stack dead bodies on the floor and turn away wounded Palestinians for lack of beds, Israel moves efficiently to care for its wounded.
The largest hospital near the Gaza border, in Ashkelon, has put several wards securely underground.
But Israel and Gaza have a parity in at least one thing: Grief over civilian casualties has fed bitterness on both sides of a conflict that shows no sign of letup.
"This is a war crime. The enemy's leaders should face justice," said Balousha, badly bruised and leaning on two relatives as he limped through his daughters' funeral procession.
Khalid Kabanin, a 41-year-old tax consultant visiting his wounded brother in Ashkelon's hospital, sounded just as angry. Like the victims of Monday's rocket attack, he is an Arab citizen of Israel and his fury was aimed at both sides.
"The leaders need to get off their butts and find a way to make peace," he said. "We all have children. This cannot be their future."
Peace is unlikely to come soon. Hamas, whose charter calls for the Jewish state's destruction, is urging a campaign of suicide bombings in Israel. Israeli tanks and soldiers have massed along the Gaza border for what Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised Monday would be "all-out war."
The mounting toll of civilian casualties has alarmed world leaders, prompting many to criticize what they call a disproportionate Israeli response to Hamas' attacks and to urge renewal of a truce that unraveled last month.
"While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday. "I have continuously stressed the need for strict observance of international humanitarian law."
Israeli officials acknowledge that their offensive is overwhelming. But they insist it is a legally defensible and effective means to discourage rocket fire that Hamas aims deliberately at Israeli civilians.
Because Hamas has stored weapons in civilian neighborhoods, Israeli officials say, the militant group bears primary responsibility for any civilian casualties sustained in attacking those stashes.
Maj. Avital Leibowitz, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said the mosque near the Balousha home in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp was, "as far as we know," a weapons storehouse.
That argument meant nothing to Balousha in the cold hospital morgue where he identified the remains of his daughters. As he reached to touch his 4-year-old, he fainted.
