The fact remains: there can be no military solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the Guardian newspaper thundered Monday.
The fact that this is the fourth such operation to quell the Hamas rockets in eight years, and that the intervals between the operations are getting shorter, underlines this point, the paper declared in its editorial.
"Hitting Hamas hard does not solve the problem. It does not end the trouble. It merely brings some short-term quiet till the next eruption," the daily insisted. Ultimately, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and between Israel and the Palestinians, will have to be solved politically and through negotiation, it reiterated. There is no other way, the Guardian made it clear.
That, though, is the long-term objective. For now, there is a more immediate goal - an end to the bloodshed and pain, it urged.
The paper recalled that eventually, as in each of the previous three rounds, there will be a ceasefire. "So why wait? If it is due to come in a week, why endure another seven days of death? Why not cease firing now?", the newspaper queried.
Referring to the role foreign mediations, it agreed that the current round of hostilities will require outside help. "The US is wary, having seen (Secretary of State) John Kerry's peace initiative fail. But the goal now is not a grand peace treaty, just a cessation to hostilities; that cannot be beyond Washington and its European allies, even if it will require President (Barack) Obama to show some steel and lean heavily on Israeli prime minister Binyamin (Benjamin) Netanyahu".
Turning to Egypt, the newspaper affirmed that Cairo has a role to play in search for a settlement to the protracted conflict.