With the only ceasefire in two weeks lasting just three hours yesterday, as yet there appears to be no end to Israel’s bombing in Gaza.

The death toll continues to mount as international negotiators led by French president Nicolas Sarkozy press for more lasting peace. Here’s what the world’s media have to say: 

Israel continues campaign as diplomats try to forge ceasefire. Israel pressed on with its war against Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday as diplomatic gears began to grind in earnest to come up with a negotiated end to the fighting. After Israeli shells killed about 40 people Tuesday at a United Nations school in Gaza — responding to Hamas mortar fire nearby, the Israelis said — Israel announced a three-hour lull in the fighting to allow some humanitarian aid and fuel for power generation to reach the Gazans, who used the afternoon break to try to shop. But fighting resumed soon afterward, and Hamas fired 22 rockets into Israel; no one was wounded. In the evening, the Israeli Army dropped leaflets warning the citizens of Rafah, next to the border with Egypt, to leave their homes. Israel has been bombing the tunnel networks through which weapons and consumer goods are smuggled from Egypt into Gaza… — International Herald Tribune

Fighting resumes despite cautious welcome for Gaza ceasefire plan. As Israel’s political leaders met in Tel Aviv to decide whether to expand their offensive into built-up areas or consider the ceasefire proposal, reports from Paris said the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had brokered a deal. However, an Israeli government spokesman said that while Israel welcomed the proposal, it could accept the plan only if it halted “hostile fire” from Gaza and included measures to stop Hamas rearming. In a statement in Paris, Sarkozy said he strongly welcomed “the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the French-Egyptian plan presented yesterday by [Egypt’s] President Mubarak”. The statement did not mention Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza. — The Guardian

Gaza truce hopes fade as Israel approves intensified attacks . It was the briefest of reprieves. Within minutes of the three-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ending at 4pm, gunfire was heard around the edges of Gaza City. Less than half an hour later, an Israeli war plane blew up a car killing a Palestinian man and his three children, medics said. Israel said it “welcomed” an Egyptian proposal for a truce with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, yet its security cabinet voted nonetheless to push ahead with its deadly ground offensive while it hammered out the details with international envoys. — Times Online

UN hosts Gaza truce talks. Members of the the United Nations Security Council and Arab ministers are meeting for a second day in a bid to reach agreement on an end to Israel’s Gaza offensive, in which more than 700 Palestinians have been killed. The body is discussing a joint Egyptian-French proposal to end the offensive, backed by the US and European governments, as an alternative to an Arab proposal blocked by the US last week. The initiative would see an immediate and temporary truce to allow aid into Gaza, measures to prevent arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, and for talks. The French government initially said Israel and the Palestinian Authority had accepted the proposal, but Israel and Hamas have said the proposal is still under discussion. — Al Jazeera

Cabinet okays continuation of Gaza op. Just hours after Jerusalem signaled it might give Franco-Egyptian diplomacy a chance on Wednesday, the Security Cabinet gave the IDF the green light to continue Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. After ceasing fire for three hours in order to allow humanitarian goods into the Strip, both sides resumed hostilities after 4pm, with Hamas firing two Grad-type rockets into downtown Beersheba and the IAF immediately attacking the rocket launchers. Meanwhile, Israel clarified that when the cabinet stated it viewed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s offer “favorably” earlier in the day, it did not mean Israel wholeheartedly accepted it. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said that Israel was ready to accept parts of the offer which were in line with its own interests — a complete cessation in terror activity and a halt to weapons smuggling through the Gaza-Egypt border. — Jerusalem Post

Ghost dances. Hope depends on the notion that there is a bottom you can touch, a point at which the cycle must begin to reverse. But Israel/Palestine seems sometimes an infinite descent into Hell. When the object is extermination, there is no reciprocity to reach for, no reasoning together, no way out, nowhere to go but down. Hamas’s wish for the obliteration of Israel is explicit. But who is actually obliterating whom? Many Israelis live in fear, and bitterly resent it. They want to go about their business undisturbed, which is one definition of peace. Every sort of violence is condoned in pursuit of this peace. Elimination of the Palestinians is not precisely mentioned: some thoughts are forbidden. But unless you manage to wipe out your enemy entirely, the long-term usefulness of violence in obtaining peace of any kind is exactly zero. Jews should know as well as anyone just how hard it is to wipe out a people entirely. — Altmuslim

The Israeli military spokesman announced 40 air raids were executed last night, mainly on Rafah and the border. More than 30 people killed today including three girls, other children and women. 45 killed in bombing UNRWA school were buried today! The 1pm to 4pm. truce was a little bit releif to the civilians in the city. The main concern of the people was to get water from distribution centers. There were long lines of people waiting to get drinking water in plastic jugs! Tanks and artillery are still operating at the edges of Gaza city! More people evacuated their places and resorted to relatives and UNRWA schools…. but yesterday’s bombing has scared everyone sleeping in the schools! Today, there were trucks of urgent food stuff and other medical aids have been allowed to be entered from Rafah into Gaza. In Gaza, we are all subject to news but we cannot see TVs. — Professor Said Abdelwahed blogs at Moments of Gaza

Where would you go? If your unbelievably small and overcrowded land was being terrorized, pulverized by bombs from the world’s 4th largest military, and your borders were closed; if your house was not safe, mosque (church) not safe, school not safe, street not safe, UN refugee camp not safe…Where would you go, run, hide? Over 15,000 have been made homeless, internal refugees from Israel’s house-bombings, shelling, and shooting. Some have been housed in UN schools around Gaza. In Jabaliya today, Israeli warplanes bombed one such school. Shifa’s director conservatively estimates 40 dead, 10s injured. It must be higher. I will go to the recieving hospital and look at the mutilated survivors, maybe see the corpses come in. Then I will tell and show you, if I’m not bombed. — Activist Eva Bartlett blogs at In Gaza

Comparing military strength of Israel and the Palestinians. As the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has once again flared up following Israel’s ongoing air and ground assault on the Gaza Strip, the IMEU presents a comparison of Israeli and Palestinian military capabilities. — Institute for Middle East Understanding