The rapid-fire rocket exchange between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday evening was so bright it could be seen from space.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst tweeted two images on Wednesday that he took from more than 200 miles above the Earth as the International Space Station was flying over Israel and Gaza.

The rocket fire and explosions crisscrossing between the two areas appear to be visible in the photos. (Mashable reached out to NASA for further clarification on where the explosions are located in the images. We will update shortly.)

My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel pic.twitter.com/jNGWxHilSy — Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) July 23, 2014

Mein traurigstes Foto: von der #ISS aus sehen wir Explosionen und Raketen über #Gaza und #Israel pic.twitter.com/xRERusouyk — Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) July 23, 2014

After more than a week of exchanging air strikes with Hamas, Israel invaded Gaza on July 17 in a massive ground offensive. Since then, the violence has continued to escalate, and more than 680 Palestinians have been killed.

The FAA extended its flight ban to Israel for all U.S. airlines on Wednesday. Several European carriers have also followed suit.