What does Gaza look like when the soldiers and media leave?

Israeli and Hamas delegations have yet to bring an end to the current round of violence after meeting throughout the week for Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo.Life in Gaza is far from being back to normal. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes during the fighting, and many have nowhere to return to. Photographer Basel Yazouri walked among the ruins in the Strip, where he witnessed life after both the Israeli soldiers and the international media left.

The cost of the war has drastically affected Israel’s south, where some of the poorest segments of the population live. Daniel Beller, a Be’er Sheva blogger, wants his government to remember his city even when there are no rockets falling.

Two thousand Palestinians were killed since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge. The high number and the identity of those killed were debated in the media this week. Samer Badawi argues that with so many lost and even more mourning, the real question surrounding the death count isn’t how it’s tallied but why it is so staggeringly high. Mairav Zonszein demands the media view the deaths from the perspective of Israel’s perpetual control of Palestinians.

On Saturday evening, 10,000 anti-war demonstrators flocked to Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square for the biggest protest since the beginning of the operation, where famed author David Grossman called on Israelis to live together with Gazans “as neighbors.”

What is the Israeli government’s endgame? Larry Derfner argues that simply by negotiating with Hamas, Netanyahu has handed his arch-rival an easy victory that could have been avoided. Noam Sheizaf, on the other hand, believes that Hamas should be part of the solution and the political process, and therefore negotiating with the group is imperative.