A German astronaut managed to capture the Gaza war zone from space while aboard the International Space Station. He called it his \u201csaddest photo yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander Gerst, a German flight engineer, geophysicist and volcanologist, spread the news with a short tweet on Wednesday, as the ISS was on a flyby over Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. The image went viral.<\/p>\n
One can clearly see the spots in which the yellowish glow of exploding targets is more prominent than elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the International Space Station we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over Gaza and Israel,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0He\u00a0wrote\u00a0on his Facebook fan page late last night, with a German translation underneath.<\/p>\n The ESA astronaut is currently on the 57th day of his mission, together with Russian commander Maksim Surayev and American engineer Reid Wiseman.<\/p>\n Israel is currently in the midst of an all-out assault on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip \u2013 an operation that has recently gone into a new phase, as escalating hostilities and ground warfare bring the death toll to 700.<\/p>\n There are casualties on both sides, but the overwhelming majority is Palestinian, 80 percent of them civilians, according to a recent UN report.<\/p>\n