Gaza: No light at end of tunnel

Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip yesterday, saying no ceasefire was near as top US and UN diplomats negotiated to halt the fighting that has claimed more than 600 lives.

US Secretary of State John Kerry held discussions in Egypt, and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and planned to see the Palestinian prime minister in the occupied West Bank today.

But there was no let-up in the fighting around Gaza. Plumes of black smoke spiralled into the sky, and Israeli shells hammered the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas and its allies fired more rockets into Israel, triggering sirens in Tel Aviv. One hit a town on the fringes of Ben-Gurion International Airport, lightly injuring two people, officials said.

"A ceasefire is not near," said Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, viewed as the most dovish member of Netanyahu's inner security cabinet. "I see no light at the end of the tunnel," she told Israel's Army Radio.

But Kerry was optimistic: "There is a framework... to end the violence and that framework is the Egyptian initiative," he said. "For the sake of thousands of innocent families whose lives have been shaken. on all sides, we hope we can get there as soon as possible."

With the conflict entering its third week, the Palestinian death toll rose to 613 and the Israeli military said it had killed 183 militants.

Comment: Israel losing propaganda war

As Israel's military offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza enters its 15th day, it is clear that, in strictly military terms, Israeli commanders are slowly achieving their objectives.

Though the 27 Israeli combat deaths might seem high to many Israelis, most will understand that it is the price they have to pay to protect themselves .

But it is clear that Israel is losing the propaganda war.

Night after night the focus of the television cameras is the young Palestinian victims. There are few shots of the effect the fighting is having on Israelis.

It is hard to see how Israel can turn the propaganda war around.

I fear the answer is that it cannot, and that the only way it can prevail is to accomplish its military objectives as quickly as possible.

Con Coughlin,©The Daily Telegraph