News stories by Pierre Klochendler, page 27

Into the third week of its war on Gaza, Israeli leaders are convinced they're still calling the shots. But, without a suitable diplomatic exit soon, the military 'successes' could quickly begin to unravel, some sobering Israeli voices have cautioned.

'Unlike the Qana tragedy in 1996 which brought about an immediate end to the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, Tuesday night's Israeli shelling of the Fakhura UNWRA school will not bring about an abrupt cessation of the Israeli military campaign,' says analyst Chemi Shalev in the Wednesday morning edition of Israel Today. 'But it will definitely accelerate the diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire.'

A confident Israel launched the second half of its war against Hamas in Gaza self-assured that it has already secured two central components of the war: the reaffirmation of its right to self-defence, and the legitimacy of its military action. The latter, Israel reckons, derives directly from the modesty, not necessarily of the scope of the operation (the most extensive against Palestinians in 40 years), but of its declared war goals.

This is the most senseless of all the wars that Palestinians and Israelis have fought, says Israeli President Shimon Peres. The futility, he suggests, stems from the Hamas insistence, ever since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, on continuing to shell Israeli towns and villages.