The Jerusalem Post has reported that Riad Natzer, head of Hamas in the West Bank who had been recently arrested in the end of May, was indicted on Thursday for allegedly organising kidnappings, suicide bombings and settlement attacks and for fundraising over 1.5 million to fund these alleged operations. 

Tragic human tales from Israel’s brutal four-week offensive on Gaza are only now emerging amid a fragile ceasefire. Read more here at Middle East Eye.

Democracy Now asks: Can Israel claim self-defence against the territory it occupies? International jurist John Dugard says no

Read Mohammed Omer's compelling piece on what it has been like for him reporting on the aasault on Gaza. He writes: 'Unlike international reporters, those of us from Gaza don’t simply report,' 'We live and die here.' 

Al Jazeera has reported that police shot and killed a teenaged boy in Kashmir, while the teenager was protesting Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip.

A police officer told AFP that "The boy died in [police] firing on anti-Israel protesters who were also angry about injuries suffered by other protesters during earlier demonstrations," 

According to an opinion piece written in the Electronic Intifada, Italy offered more support to Israel than any other European Union country

Israel has agreed to extend a three-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for another 72 hours.

"I can confirm that Israel has agreed to an Egyptian proposal to unconditionally extend the ceasefire for another 72 hours," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigar Palmor told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

"I don't know about Hamas' position regarding this," he said.

Israel and Palestinian factions are currently observing an Egyptian-brokered three-day ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday morning.

It is expected to expire on Friday morning unless extended.

The two sides are currently in Cairo for indirect talks aimed at reaching a long-term ceasefire agreement.

It has been announced that the BBC will air an emergency appeal for those affected by the Israeli assaults on Gaza on Friday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-28686516

This is in sharp contrast to the 2009 assault on Gaza when the BBC refused to air an appeal resulting in Tony Benn insisting live on air to promote the appeal himself:

Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, has said "the most important and real step to end the siege on Gaza is to establish an independent (sea) port and an independent and safe international sea route, on the condition that it is internationally protected and where Israel has no control over it." 

http://aqsatv.ps/war/index.php?action=details&nid=174 

The current ceasefire has been an opportunity for Gazans to tend to their wounded, recover bodies from the rubble, re-stock food supplies and gather their belongings. It has also been a brief opportunity to look for many missing people. 

Channel 4 have reported that during this temporary cessation in hostilities they have been able to locate the girl with "panda eyes" who Jon Snow met while he was reporting from Gaza. She is said to look better but still require surgery

The girl who became a symbol of the plight of children in Gaza has been found http://t.co/iQjJNLF5LB pic.twitter.com/cp43MUjXse

As voices around the world join a chorus demanding that Israel is charged with war crimes for the latest assault on the Gaza Strip, high ranking officials within the Israeli army have ordered a comprehensive report into the major offenses. 

With Palestinians poised to join the ICC and notables like former US President Jimmy Carter calling for an investigation of war crimes related to Gaza, the pressure is mounting on Israel. 

The Jerusalem Post are reporting that: "The Foreign Ministry has not yet decided whether Israel should cooperate with a United Nations Human Rights Council commission that is expected to be set up in the coming days to investigate alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Senior diplomatic officials said that deliberations are currently underway in the ministry to decide whether Jerusalem should boycott this commission, as it did the Goldstone Commission in 2009, which found Israel guilty of war crimes for its actions during the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza."