Gaza on Twitter: the five best people to follow

As fighting in Gaza has intensified, so too has the battle being waged online, with both Israel and Hamas taking to social media to tell their side of the story.

Since it began, the conflict in Gaza has generated almost as much debate on social media as the World Cup, which set records for Twitter traffic, according to statistics from Twtrland, an Israeli social media company.

On the day Israel launched its ground assault, Gaza was mentioned 319,757 times on Twitter alone, the Washington Post reports. "That was more than the 270,292 tweets with a #worldcup hashtag during the World Cup final," the paper says.

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But sifting through all those tweets to find reliable information can prove challenging. Below is a selection of five people providing genuine insight into events on the ground in Gaza right now.

Karl Penhaul @karlpenhaul

"Tonight there is no moon" – Powerful reporting from international journalist and CNN contributor Karl Penhaul, who is inside Gaza. His tweets sometimes verge on the poetic: "Tiny parachutes on illumination rounds so close can almost catch them".

Danny Gold @DGisSERIOUS

Vice News is developing a reputation as a distinctive voice in frontline reporting. Danny Gold's video reports can be deeply harrowing, with significantly more explicit content than is broadcast on television. Gold uses his Twitter feed largely to retweet others, which makes it a good source of content from around the Twittersphere.

Farah Baker @Farah_Gazan

"This is in my area. I can't stop crying. I might die tonight #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #ICC4Israel #AJAGAZA". Farah Baker lives opposite Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital and writes movingly in a mixture of English and Arabic about what life is like for an ordinary person living in a war zone.

The Israeli Defence Forces @IDFSpokesperson

The official Israeli Defence Forces Twitter account provides running commentary on the conflict from an Israeli government perspective. The account gives updates on the number of rockets launched against Israel and details the locations and purposes of Hamas tunnels across the border.

Mohammed Omer @Mogaza

"Agricultural crops are burning next to #Gaza only power plant after #Israeli missile hit the land". Omer is an award-winning Palestinian journalist reporting from the Gaza Strip. He offers regular reports on where attacks are taking place and the impact strikes are having on the ground.