Gaza Update (10 p.m. Israel; 3 p.m. Eastern US): A Truce Offer Which Will Go Nowhere

Today's diplomatic news is the reported offer by Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas leader in exile in Damascus, of a cease-fire via the Russian Foreign Ministry. The condition is that Israel release its economic blockade of Gaza.

The approach, unfortunately, will be a non-starter. Even if Mashaal rather than the local Hamas leadership in Gaza speaks for the party, Tel Aviv will respond by saying that it will not lift the blockade in advance of a Hamas declaration of a cessation of rocket and mortar attacks. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched his own pre-emptive diplomatic strike to this effect, saying, "We did not enter this operation in order to end it with the firing still continuing."

So, for now, it looks like more of the same with continued Israeli military operations and diplomatic manoeuvrings by each side --- Israel to keep open a window for its attack and attempt to break Hamas, Hamas to mobilise international as well as local opinion for long-term political advantage.