There is widespread coverage of intensified Israeli military action in Gaza overnight Monday and yesterday. The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Financial Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Sun, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard and Metro all report that extensive Israeli air strikes were carried out and that among the locations struck were a major electricity plant and the home of Hamas’s political leader in Gaza, Ismael Haniyeh. Writing in the Guardian, Ian Black suggests that hitting the electricity plant, whether intentional or not, will raise questions over the intentions and accuracy of Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, the Independent’s Kim Sengupta provides an eyewitness account of the bombardment in Gaza, which he says echoes the cycle of previous military campaigns in Gaza.

The Times reports on a tunnel attack by Hamas on Monday which killed five Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The Independent says that despite relatively heavy Israeli losses during the campaign, the Israeli public remains highly supportive of Operation Protective Edge. In the Times, Roger Boyes analyses the consequences of potential scenarios to end the conflict, concluding that none would be ideal for Israel. The Telegraph says that efforts are still taking place in Cairo among various Palestinian factions to find agreement over a potential ceasefire arrangement. The Financial Times suggests that Israeli forces are racing to destroy the Hamas tunnel network used to launch attacks on Israel, before the diplomatic clock to resolve the conflict runs down. The Telegraph says that North Korea has denied reports that it has sold rockets to Hamas.

Writing in the Independent, Patrick Cockburn argues that Israel is losing the public relations battle. An editorial in the Independent says that declining American influence and Washington’s fading will to intervene means that Israel has “gone rogue” over Gaza. The Guardian online reports that both the White House and Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office both rejected the veracity of an allegedly leaked transcript of a phone conversation between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. The purported transcript depicted a bitter argument with Obama demanding an immediate ceasefire.

In the Israeli media, both Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom lead with headlines indicating that Operation Protective Edge is at a crossroads. The former summarises with the headline “Between abatement and escalation” while Israel Hayom’s front page quotes a high-ranking officer who says “Either expand operation or get out.” Makor Rishon’s top story suggests that there are ongoing talks but no agreement on a ceasefire, while Haaretz claims that Israel’s Foreign Ministry has advised Prime Minister Netanyahu to initiate a United Nations resolution to bring the conflict to an end. Israel Radio news suggests that a Turkish envoy has arrived in Israel to attempt to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.

In Yediot Ahronot, both Nahum Barnea and Alex Fishman emphasise the increasing centrality of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Barnea says that Abbas “may be weak at home, but he is getting stronger outside,” as the PA has become a useful conduit through which the various players in the current conflict can communicate. Fishman says that Israel increasingly “views positively the effort to reinstate Abu Mazen [Abbas] as the person who assumes responsibility for the Gaza Strip.”

In Maariv, lead commentator Ben Caspit says that although Israeli forces have the upper hand militarily, “it seems to me that we underestimated Hamas. These people are true to their word: they are ready to die.” Maariv leads with a video clip which Hamas released which claims to show the tunnel attack it carried out on Monday which killed five Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Israel Hayom covers a recorded clip released yesterday of Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif, who claimed that Hamas would be victorious.