Israel Reconsiders Cease-fire

Has Israel's Gaza operation been successful? According to The Wall Street Journal, "Israeli attacks have destroyed wide swathes of administrative infrastructure but haven't appeared to degrade Hamas' ability to fire rockets into Israel—the reason Israel said it began its attack on Saturday." Israel is now in discussions with Washington over a cease-fire, which would include international monitors in Gaza to prevent Hamas from firing rockets into Israel. Such a move, writes the Journal, "could improve the security situation from Israel's perspective and give its leaders an exit and a way to claim victory as elections approach, without having to significantly escalate the conflict with a messy ground invasion."