This morning, the online editions of the Times, Telegraph and Financial Times cover the overnight news that the United States and United Nations have brokered a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas, providing a window for negotiations over a longer lasting truce. The Times, Telegraph and Guardian all report on the increasing civilian casualties in Gaza and there is an eyewitness account of the difficulties facing Gaza emergency workers in the Independent. The Daily Mail, Daily Express and Evening Standard all emphasise that Israel has called up a further 16,000 reserve soldiers while the Times notes that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that with or without a ceasefire, Israeli forces will destroy the entire tunnel network constructed by Hamas to launch attacks on Israel.

The Independent, Daily Mirror, Independent i and Sun all report that a White House spokesman yesterday made striking criticism of Israeli military action, describing the shelling of a United Nations-operated school in Gaza on Wednesday as “totally indefensible.” The Guardian says that both Conservative and Labour MPs are urging for pressure to be placed on Israel to end the military campaign, highlighting critical comments directed at Israel from former Middle East Minister Alistair Burt and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander.

A report by the Guardian’s Julian Borger suggests that the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza may have been contributed to by poor training of Israeli troops or the use of inappropriate munitions.

The Guardian and Times both include articles highlighting overwhelming Israeli public support, demonstrated by recent polling, for the current military campaign in Gaza. The Times claims that the Israeli public is “insulated” from the images of destruction in Gaza due to the Israeli media’s focus on Israel’s perspective.

An editorial in the Times says that Israel must be clear on what comes next in Gaza after the violence has subsided. The Guardian’s editorial suggests that the current Gaza conflict was brought about by the Israeli government’s avoidance of peace. An editorial in the Daily Mirror calls for diplomatic action, especially from the United States against Israel. In the Guardian, Gazan political strategist Sami Abdel-Shafi calls on the international community to force Israel to change the reality of everyday life in Gaza. Writing in the Daily Express, Frederick Forsyth expresses disbelief over broad left-wing pro-Palestinian support in the UK.

In other regional news, the Independent i reports that a Hezbollah commander has been killed in Iraq in what was described by the organisation as a “jihadi mission.” The Independent says that Sunni jihadist group ISIS is making advances in eastern Syria. Meanwhile, the Guardian online reports that a group of Iranian judges, backed by Tehran’s security and intelligence community, are cracking down on free speech.

In the Israeli media, both Israel Hayom and Yediot Ahronot lead with the news of a three-day ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas. Yediot Ahronot suggests that it will be followed by an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and lead commentator Nahum Barnea predicts that “the one who stands to gain most from the cease-fire agreement” is Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who can look forward to “the return of the Palestinian Authority to power in Gaza, under the auspices of the Egyptians, with Israel’s consent and with the inclusion of Hamas.”

Haaretz leads with the deaths of five Israeli soldiers yesterday after a mortar shell exploded in a staging area near the Gaza border. The incident, which brings the total number of IDF dead up to 61, is also a major item in Yediot Ahronot.

Meanwhile, both Maariv and Haaretz suggest that there will be a significant investigation, even a Commission of Enquiry launched into the failure to fully identify and comprehend the threat posed by Hamas’s complex network of tunnels which have been uncovered during Operation Protective Edge. Israel Radio news says that Israeli forces have so far destroyed around 80 per cent of the existing tunnels.

Israel Radio news also reports that police are on high alert in Jerusalem today ahead of Friday prayers, after Hamas yesterday called for a “Day of Rage” in the West Bank. There were several minor clashes in Jerusalem neighbourhoods last night with no injuries reported.