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Israel's war against Hamas/Gaza. The 21st day:

Israel said today its 'Gaza offensive' could be "in the final act" and sent envoys to discuss truce terms after Hamas made a ceasefire offer to end three weeks of fighting that has killed more than 1,130 Palestinians and wounded at least 5,200 (according to Gaza medics).

However, Israel rejected at least two major elements of the ceasefire terms outlined by the Islamist movement, and fighting continued, albeit with less intensity than yesterday.

Meanwhile Haaretz and y.net (IL) are reporting that Hamas will not accept the Israeli conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza and would continue the "armed resistance until the end", Khaled Meshal, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group, said today afternoon (*).

His comments came following a report in the Arab daily as-Sharq al-Awsat earlier today, claiming Hamas is prepared to accept a conditional cease-fire with Israel starting on Saturday.

Simultaneously the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said today, at the Arab Summit in Doha/Qatar, that "The Arab peace initiative (with Israel) is dead… we must respond to Israel on the basis of an eye of an eye."

* Related:
☞ The road of "negotiations" is closed.. (P.F.L.P.)

So it seems that - unfortunately (especially for the 'ordinary' people in Gaza) - "the show must go on"! (at least for the next 48 hours!)

► German (bourgeois) newspapers today look at the prospect for a cease-fire wonder if Hamas won't come out of the violence with a stronger image on the Arab street:

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"It doesn't take a prophet to predict that Israel's attack on Gaza is in its final stages. There are reasons for this: Hamas is decisively weakened, which has reinstated the deterrent effect of the Israeli military in the Middle East. In a few days a new American president will take office; Israel will hardly want to do him the injustice of making him cut through the oldest and thorniest knot in the Middle East conflict. The public pressure on Israel is getting stronger because the destruction in the Gaza Strip is growing, including so-called collateral damage. (German) Foreign Minister Steinmeier, on his second trip to the Middle East in a few days, warned that Israel was losing international support. He didn't need to go to the conflict zone to make this assertion, he could have voiced it to Ms. Livni over the telephone -- never mind that the Israelis know it already. Otherwise the journey was unnecessary. It won't bring results, only images for the (German) election campaign."

The center-'left' Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The Islamists are continuing to fight. They think they can defy the overwhelming power of the Israeli army for a while longer -- even if this is borne by (Gaza's) civilian population. Hamas is waiting for a halfway acceptable offer to end the war."

 "The Israelis don't want to give up the economic blockade of Gaza. They want the border with Egypt used by weapons smugglers to be overseen by international monitors. And any reconstruction funds for the destroyed Gaza Strip should be distributed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. ... Apparently new elections in Gaza are also being considered. Hamas won a clear election victory over Abbas' Fatah party in 2006. On the other hand, Abbas' mandate as president ran out five days ago."

"In short: Part of the cease-fire agreement is obviously intended to deprive Hamas of power. Is the intention to bring Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah back into Gaza? Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has often said that the war cannot result in a 'return to the status quo.' However, this kind of cease-fire model is hardly going to push Hamas toward a speedy capitulation."

The (former) 'left-alternative' daily Die Tageszeitung writes:

"Hamas' strength is still not broken. If it survives - and there is every indication that it will - then it will celebrate its strategy of digging in as a heroic victory over Israel. And on 'Arab street' it will enjoy a revival. It has held out for three weeks against the overwhelming Israeli firepower … The political compromises that they will have to make for a cease-fire will only damage them marginally if the reward for an effective border control and the halt to rocket fire into Israel is the opening of Gaza's borders."

"Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been wrong-footed. Both have been marginalized in this conflict. Abbas was too quick to blame Hamas for the outbreak of the war and so was suspected of collaboration with Israel. Even if this is ridiculous, the accusations of deserting their own people could cost Abbas and Fatah dearly."