Here are the key events of the last 19 days that have pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional crisis:

June 25

Palestinian gunmen use a tunnel under the Israel-Gaza border to attack an Israeli army post. They kill two soldiers and capture a third, 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit

June 26

Three Palestinian groups, including the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement, claim the capture of Corporal Shalit and demand the return of Palestinian women and children in Israeli prisons

June 27

Hamas signs an agreement that implicitly recognises the existence of Israel, raising hopes of internal calm in the Palestinian Territories, but the military stand-off deepens as a second Israeli man, 18-year-old settler Eliahu Asheri, is kidnapped

June 28

Israeli warplanes destroy key bridges in the Gaza Strip and knock out the territory’s sole power station, cutting off electricity to many of the 1.4 million residents. Living conditions in Gaza start to deteriorate. Israeli jets fly over the palace of President al-Assad of Syria. At dawn, Israeli tanks and soldiers push a short distance into northern Gaza

June 29

Israel extends "Operation Summer Rain" to the West Bank and arrests more than 60 Hamas members, including a third of the Palestinian cabinet. The UN urges restraint. Asheri is found dead

June 30

Israeli aircraft strike Gaza again overnight, hitting the Interior Ministry. The Palestinian Prime minister Ismail Haniya says he is trying to free Corporal Shalit but that the Israeli attacks are endangering the soldier

July 1

Israel rejects Palestinian militant demands to free 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Corporal Shalit

July 3

Israel sends troops and armoured vehicles into northern Gaza. The three groups holding Corporal Shalit give Israel 24 hours to free Palestinian prisoners

July 4

The deadline passes. Israel says Corporal Shalit is still alive. Hamas militants launch a rocket into the heart of the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, beyond the range of its usual weapons

July 5: Israel bombs the Interior Ministry in Gaza City for the second time on the eighth consecutive night of raids. Palestinian militants fire a second rocket at Ashkelon

July 6

In the heaviest fighting yet, 22 Palestinian civilians and militants are killed in Israeli strikes. Militants on rooftops exchange fire with Israeli tanks. The UN Security Council considers a resolution demanding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza but the US says it as "unbalanced"

July 8

Israeli troops kill four Palestinians but pull back from northern Gaza to a "security zone" on the border with Israel. Haniya calls for a ceasefire

July 9

Israel mounts a new round of air strikes on Gaza. The death toll rises: 41 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed in the last four days

July 10

The supreme leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, emerges from hiding in Damascus - where he is under the protection of the Syrian regime - to say that Corporal Shalit will not be freed without a prisoner exchange, but that his life will be protected

July 11

More air strikes in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll reaches 52

July 12

At 2:30am, Israeli jets bomb the house of Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas's armed wing, wounding him.

Hours later a new front opens in the crisis, as Hezbollah fighters cross Israel's northern border with Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers and capture two. Israel calls the attack an "act of war" and responds with airstrikes and the first incursions into Lebanon in six years. A total of 8 Israeli soldiers die

July 13

The attack against Lebanon continues. More than 50 Lebanese die in the bombing and shelling of Hezbollah bases. Israel cripples Beirut international airport, begins a naval blockade and urges residents to evacuate neighbourhoods in southern Beirut. Hezbollah threatens to attack Haifa, Israel's third largest city. Amid international appeals for calm, President Abbas warns of a "regional war".

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