Following another bloody day in Gaza, the Telegraph, Guardian and Times all publish reports focusing on the deaths of a further seven Israeli soldiers during the fighting, including eye-witness accounts from some of the funerals which took place yesterday. The Financial Times covers life in Ashkelon, emphasising that daily life continues despite the regular rocket warning sirens which see residents hurry for cover.

The Guardian says that more than 20 members of the same Palestinian family were killed by an Israeli air strike yesterday. The Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror and Metro all report that an Israeli shell hit a Gaza hospital yesterday, killing several people. The Independent and Sun highlight the latest death toll from Gaza which has reached more than 500 people. In the Telegraph, David Blair focuses on the difficulties facing United Nations agencies in accommodating the many Gazans who have left their homes due to the fighting. In the Independent, Kim Sengupta examines the cramped conditions in densely-populated Gaza.

The Telegraph reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the region yesterday in an attempt to help further efforts towards reaching a ceasefire. The Times, Financial Times and the Evening Standard also say that the United Nations and United States have called for an immediate end to hostilities. However, writing in the Guardian, Ian Black says that both sides need a “sense of victory” for a ceasefire to take shape.

In the Independent, Ben Lyfield says that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must weigh his next steps carefully, balancing a sense of military achievement with the losses being sustained by the IDF. A Telegraph editorial places the responsibility for the current violence squarely on Hamas, which it says initiated the conflict and has already rejected a ceasefire. The Guardian includes an editorial which says that the conflict is “not really about military objectives, but about prestige, pride and national self-image.” The Independent’s editorial concludes that a longer-lasting peace is “further off than ever.”

The Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and the online edition of the Independent cover a controversial image circulated on social media by the IDF, which depicts Westminster under fire, asking “What would you do?” One MP described it as “in poor taste” while another said it raised an important question. Writing about the social media battle in the Independent i, Mira Bar Hillel claims that Israel’s military is “getting more resistance online than on the ground” and “cannot cope.”

In other regional news, both the Telegraph and Independent say that the International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal signed with the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) in Geneva in November, which required Tehran to safely neutralise some of its enriched uranium.

In the Israeli media this morning, Israel Hayom summarises with the lead headline of “The battle over the tunnels and the ceasefire.” Makor Rishon headlines the number of tunnels uncovered and the IDF soldiers who have been killed, while Haaretz says there has been a “wave of infiltrations” via Gaza tunnels. Maariv highlights apparent headway in the chances of brokering a ceasefire, reporting that “real progress” was made yesterday in talks between Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. However, Yediot Ahronot says that any ceasefire proposal at this stage, although likely to be favoured by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be opposed by ministers Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett. Also in Yediot Ahronot, an article by former-Shin Bet chief Yival Diskin urges the military “don’t stop now” or else the armed threat of Hamas will remain.

Meanwhile, in Maariv commentator Yossi Melman says that a special military unit to deal with the threat of terror tunnels should have been established prior to the current conflict and says “it must be done immediately after the war is over.”

Israel Radio news this morning reports that rocket fire on Israel has significantly reduced over the past few days, by as much as 30 per cent since the ground incursion commenced. A separate item reports that a 25-year-old Israeli man was shot dead this morning at a West Bank junction.