As Israel continues its air attacks on the Gaza Strip after repeated rocket attacks, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has taken the fight for hearts and minds online.

On 29 December the IDF became the first national armed force to set up a dedicated YouTube channel and the site already has nearly 10,000 subscribers.

The site shows footage of rocket attacks against Israel, weapons caches and aid trucks entering Gaza.

"We thank you for visiting us and will continue to update this site with documentation of the IDF's humane action and operational success in operation 'Cast Lead'," said the IDF Spokesperson Unit, which has also set up a blog to cover the military action.

Meanwhile, the Israeli consulate in New York has set up a Twitter feed about the crisis to solicit questions for a virtual press conference. While only a few questions were answered, others are being shown on the consulate web site.

Hamas is updating its own web site with footage from the conflict, and there are reports of hackers targeting and defacing Israeli web sites. Up to 300 web sites have reportedly been attacked.

Facebook too has seen activity on both sides of the conflict. A group known as 'I Support the Israel Defense Forces In Preventing Terror Attacks From Gaza' currently has over 30,000 supporters, while 'Sympathise with Gaza' has over 20,000.