News:

The Israel-Hamas cease-fire holds for a second day. (AP/Reuters/AFP)

Indirect cease-fire talks continue in Cairo. (BBC)

Hamas says It has not received an official response to its cease-fire
demands. (Ma'an)

Israel is reportedly seeking to "demilitarize" Gaza. (Jerusalem Post)

Gaza residents start to ask what was gained by the fighting. (Los Angeles Times)

A Hamas spokesman is reportedly attacked by Gaza residents. (YNet)

Indian and French TV report to show Hamas firing rockets near civilian
areas. (NDTV/France 24)

Concern remains about the potential for future clashes. (Washington Post)

The damage in Gaza starts to be assessed. (Washington
Post/Ha'aretz/The Guardian)

UNICEF says large numbers of children were killed in the Gaza conflict. (Xinhua)

Pres. Abbas declares gaza a disaster area. (Xinhua)

Hamas says it intends to keep its political and military wing
separate. (New York Times)

Israel says Hamas in Gaza ordered and funded the kidnapping and murder
of three Israeli teenagers in June. (Ha'aretz/Times of Israel)

Palestine seeks ICC support for charges against Israel. (Xinhua)

A survey suggests most Israelis think neither side won, but approve of
PM Netanyahu's performance. (Ha'aretz)

Israeli politicians say Netanyahu presented them with a "nightmare"
scenario involving the complete reconquest of Gaza. (Ha'aretz/Times of
Israel)

Some Israelis think the rightward political drift in the country is
solidifying. (New York Times)

Tunisia is concerned about potential returning jihadists. (New York Times)

New clashes erupt between the Lebanese army and extremists near the
Syrian border. (AP)

Iraq says it has killed 60 IS extremists. (AP/BBC)

Kurdish officials say their forces have had a major clash with IIS
extremists near Erbil. (Reuters)

Militants attack a police checkpoint in Egypt, leaving five killed. (AP/Xinhua)

Commentary:

Hussein Ibish and Aaron David Miller discuss whether the Israel-Hamas
cease-fire will hold. (PBS NewsHour)

Tom Friedman says the only way to stabilize Gaza is to strengthen the
PA. (New York Times)

Ephraim Sneh says, in order to ensure Hamas does not benefit from the
war, Israel must strengthen the PA and its strategy. (Al Monitor)

Zvi Bar'el says Egypt is still the powerbroker regarding Gaza. (Ha'aretz)

Ahdaf Soueif says the large number of dead Palestinian children tells
a story of Israeli impunity. (Los Angeles Times)

David Horovitz says Israel may have won, but Hamas certainly lost.
(Times of Israel)

Jonathan Marcus says there were no winners. (BBC)

Uriel Heilman also assesses winners and losers. (JTA)

Avi Issacharoff says the winners may be radical groups even more
extreme than Hamas. (Times of Israel)

Abdullah Erakat says Abbas's political power is another casualty of
the war. (The Media Line)

David Kenner says Hamas must now battle its various enemies inside
Gaza. (Foreign Policy)

Rami Khouri says Palestinians need a revised and unified PLO. (Daily Star)

Shlomi Eldar says Israel fears more terror attacks in the West Bank.
(Al Monitor)

The CSM says Israelis and Palestinians ask for world empathy while
showing each other not. (Christian Science Monitor)

Gregg Carlstrom says Israel's hawks have intimidated the last remnants
of the antiwar left. (Foreign Policy)

Osama Al Sharif draws his own lessons from the Gaza conflict. (Jordan Times)

Hassan Hassan looks at the role of various Islamist groups in Syria.
(The National)

Hussein Ibish asks why no one is acting against ISIS? (Now)

The National says Kurds must not act solely in their own interests.
(The National)

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed says PM al-Maliki needs to go abroad, the few
countries will take him. (Asharq Al Awsat)

The New York Times says the rise of ISIS in Iraq is alarming. (New York Times)

Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi says the Arab world is "drowning in
Machiavellianism." (Arab News)

News:

A 72 hour cease-fire mediated by Egypt takes hold between Israel and Hamas. (New York Times/Reuters/AFP)

Israel says it has pulled its forces either out of Gaza or into "defensive positions." (BBC)

A northern Gaza farming town now reportedly looks like an earthquake zone. (Reuters)

A noted Gaza psychologist now has to deal with the loss of many of his relatives. (New York Times)

Violent death has become a way of life in Gaza. (AP)

Both sides in the Gaza conflict prepare for a UN war crimes probe. (AP)

The injured in Gaza are going untreated because of an ambulance shortage. (Ha'aretz)

"Bomb Gaza" apps are removed from the Google store. (Ha'aretz)

Iran acknowledges it gave missile technology to Hamas. (AP)

FM Lieberman denounces proposals to bring PA security forces into the Gaza border crossing with Egypt. (Ha'aretz)

An Israeli security guard in the occupied West Bank is reportedly stabbed by Palestinian. (YNet)

The Libyan parliament convenes as militias continue to battle around them. (New York Times/Reuters)

Commentary:

Asmaa al-Ghoul describes the killing of nine of her family members in an Israeli attack. (Al Monitor)

Atef Abu Saif chronicles daily life in Gaza under Israeli assault. (New York Times)

David Ignatius says PM Netanyahu has a duty to make peace. (Washington Post)

Roger Cohen says Palestinian statehood is key to peace. (New York Times)

Ali Jarbawi says Israel's colonialism must end. (New York Times)

Elhanan Miller asks if Hamas or Hezbollah are learning more from each other about tunnels. (Times of Israel)

Mitch Ginsburg says Israel has forsaken the element of surprise. (Times of Israel)

Jane Eisner looks at lessons to be learned from the Times of Israel's blunder allowing a pro-genocide blog post. (The Forward)

Jonathan Cook says Israel was "deceitful" about its allegedly captured soldier. (The National)

Akiva Eldar says the Gaza war has stifled democracy in Israel. (Al Monitor)

Linda Heard asks if there's a silver lining in the Gaza conflict. (Gulf News)

Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson say it's time to treat Hamas as a "legitimate actor." (Foreign Policy)

Jonathan Schanzer says Turkey and Qatar should be considered proxies for terrorists. (Foreign Policy)

Christopher Hill says the US needs a real policy about Arab state disintegration. (Daily Star)

News:

Palestinians accuse Israel of breaking its own unilateral seven-hour
truce and killing a young girl. (Reuters/Ma'an)

16 more Palestinians were killed in the run-up to the "humanitarian
truce." (Ma'an)

Israel pulls most of its troops back from the heart of Gaza. (Washington Post)

10 more Palestinians are killed as Israel shells a UN school being
used as a shelter for displaced persons in Gaza. (Ma'an)

The US says it is "appalled" by the "disgraceful" shelling by Israel
of a UN school. (AP)

US Amb. to the UN Power calls the school attack "horrifying." (US
Mission to the UN)

The UN expresses outrage over the attack on the school. (AFP)

UNRWA says it warned Israel 33 times about the location and
vulnerability of the school. (UNRWA)

International controversy rages over the school attack. (New York Times)

Gaza families return to their homes and survey the wreckage. (Reuters)

FM Lieberman calls for a new UN mandate in Gaza. (Ha'aretz)

France says the Gaza war may require "an imposed solution." (AP)

Dubai's police chief strongly criticizes Hamas. (YNet)

Gaza hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed. (New York Times)

Hamas fighters say they are using a new version of sniper rifle
manufactured in Gaza. (Ma'an)

The Washington Post profiles the head of Hamas' military wing. (Washington Post)

Israelis view military deaths as an inevitable cost. (Washington Post)

A Palestinian delegation presents its demands at a meeting in Cairo. (AFP)

The US and Qatar may be once again working on an alternative to the
Egypt-centric approach for a cease-fire. (Times of Israel)

Israel reportedly "spied on Sec. Kerry during peace talks." (AFP)

Gaza is already looking to post-war aid in order to rebuild. (Reuters)

In the midst of war, Israeli and Palestinian students dialogue in
Washington DC. (Times of Israel)

IS militants in Iraq sees three towns from Kurdish forces threatening
a major dam. (New York Times/AP/Reuters)

Iraq's Yazidi minority flees IS extremists. (AP)

Syrian rebels kill 10 Lebanese troops and captured over a dozen more
in a raid on a Lebanese border town. (AP)

22 are killed in clashes over Libya's main international airport. (AP)

Commentary:

Hussein Ibish says Hamas is angling for a stronger presence in the
West Bank, even at the expense of Gaza. (The National)

David Kenner looks at possible instability, caused by the Gaza war, in
the West Bank. (Foreign Policy)

Stephen Robert says only a two-state solution can prevent future Gaza
conflicts. (Ha'aretz)

Sami Abdel-Shafi says Gaza desperately needs the world's help. (Gulf News)

Sever Plocker says the Gaza war may be a diplomatic turning point,
with a new push for a peace agreement. (YNet)

Nathan Thrall says the solution is to allow the new Palestinian
government to rule in Gaza and rebuild it. (London Review of Books)

Avi Issacharoff says if Hamas doesn't succeed in a major attack it
will be humiliated, but, if it does, that could bring a dreadful
retribution. (Times of Israel)

Shlomi Eldar says Israel's unilateral withdrawal could leave Hamas
empty-handed. (Al Monitor)

Ha'aretz asks what comes next after Israel's partial withdrawal from
Gaza. (Ha'aretz)

Amer Al Sabaileh says Egypt remains key to any Gaza solution. (Jordan Times)

Kamel Abu Jaber says Israel's violent approach will never bring it
security. (Jordan Times)

Amos Harel says, with Israel's ground operation apparently winding
down, the battle over narratives has begun. (Ha'aretz)

David Horovitz says nothing Israel has done will prevent Hamas from
fighting future battles. (Times of Israel)

Ayman Mohyeldin says no Palestinian is safe in Gaza and there is
nowhere to hide. (MSNBC)

Roger Cohen looks at differences in perceptions of Israel in the US
and Europe. (New York Times)

Thomas Friedman says neither Israel nor Hamas have a good way out of
the current conflict. (York Times)

Abdel Monem Said also does not see either party benefiting from the
Gaza war. (Asharq Al Awsat)

The National says the First World War offers lessons for Hamas and
Israel. (The National)

Nahum Barnea says Israel has no mission in Gaza. (Ynet)

Anshel Pfeffer explains Israel's "Hannibal doctrine." (Ha'aretz)

David Bosco questions the impartiality of the UN in Gaza and similar
conflicts. (Washington Post)

Steve Caplan criticizes the medical journal The Lancet for publishing
"propaganda." (The Guardian)

Linda Gradstein and Herb Keinon both say the Gaza war has revealed an
unlikely Arab/Israeli alliance against Hamas. (The Media
Line/Jerusalem Post)

Paul Mason says he was surprised to find so much hope amid the terror
in Gaza. (The Guardian)

Abdul Sattar Hatita asks who's winning in Libya. (Asharq Al Awsat)