Israel-Palestine Live Coverage: Day 2 of Operation Pillar of Cloud

2239 GMT: It's been hard to balance the reports of intense bombing and explosions in Gaza with the similar reports from Israel. The clearest reason for this is that most rockets fired from Gaza do not appear to have landed near residences. Contrast this with the explosions in Gaza which are happening in the center of heavily populated areas.

One need look no further than Israel's own IDF Spokesperson Twitter account to see this play out. Below is their latest summary:

Since start of the operation: 300 terrorist sites targeted in #Gaza. +300 rockets struck #Israel. +130 missiles intercepted by Iron Dome

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 15, 2012

If this is true, then the number of rockets that have been launched from Gaza are equal to the amount of sites in Gaza that Israel says it has hit. However, the IDF has barely produced any pictures or video of the damage on the groun in Israel. Instead, they have focused on how effective their own airstrikes have been:

Video: IDF targeting rocket launching sites in #Gaza youtu.be/nlWiZeR0OoI #Hamas

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 15, 2012

We've contacted IDF's spokesperson and asked them to post more videos from inside Israel. So far we have received no response.

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Israel-Gaza Analysis: Why the Talk is Now of a Cease-Fire

So now it is said that the exchange of hostilities between factions in Gaza and the State of Israel will not bring another war. After the concern of recent days that West Jerusalem might repeat the attack of 2008/9, Operation Cast Lead, suddenly the talk  from Hamas and then from Israel was of a cease-fire.

So what happened? 

The surface reading had been that an escalation of tension on the Gaza border was useful for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as this took attention away from any need for concessions in talks on the other Palestinian front --- the West Bank --- ahead of Israeli elections. Indeed, even Washington's statement that it was“deeply concerned” about the construction of another 942 housing units of Israeli settlements in the West Bank could be put aside.

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