The aftermath of Operation Protective Edge features prominently in this morning’s news coverage. Both the Evening Standard and Independent i report that there is unease in Israel over the open-ended Gaza truce agreed this week between Israel and Hamas, pointing to a poll which indicates that 54 per cent of Israelis see no clear winner from the conflict. The Guardian says that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing political turbulence, having been unable to comprehensively defeat Hamas. However, the article notes that there is no credible challenger to Netanyahu’s position. Anshel Pfeffer makes the same point, also in the Guardian, adding that Netanyahu’s apparent loss of popularity during the past week is consistent with a pattern whereby leaders lose support in the aftermath of war and conflict.

The Financial Times reports from Gaza and focuses on the fishing industry which has sprung back to life this week following Israel’s agreement to extend fishing limits from three to six miles, as a result of the ceasefire. However, the article says that this is Hamas’s sole tangible achievement to show from weeks of fighting, constituting a meagre gain.

Also in the wake of the Gaza conflict, the Times, Independent, Daily Express and Independent i all cover an unprecedented joint statement released yesterday by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Muslim Council of Britain, which in the face of increased communal tensions pledged “we must not import conflict. We must export peace instead.”

The Guardian and Independent both report that the body of a 23-year-old American Jewish religious seminary student was found yesterday in the Jerusalem Forest, following a search lasting several days. However, Israeli authorities discounted any criminal motive for the death.

The Guardian also says that the Islamist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, based in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel, yesterday executed four people it claims were Israeli spies. The group has previously launched several rocket attacks on Israel.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph, Independent, Guardian and the online edition of the Financial Times all report that 43 Fijian United Nations peacekeepers on the Syrian part of the Golan Heights bordering Israel, have been forcibly apprehended by an unnamed armed group. The same reports also say that Sunni Jihadist group ISIS has executed 250 Syrian army troops by firing squad.

In the Israeli media, the fallout from Operation Protective Edge continues to make headlines. Yediot Ahronot highlights that the school year will begin as planned in the south of the country following this week’s open-ended ceasefire. Israel Hayom also features an item on residents of the south returning to everyday life. Israel Radio news says that at a security cabinet meeting yesterday evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented the ceasefire arrangement and also promised a generous aid package to southern communities. However, analysis of Netanyahu’s performance during Operation Protective Edge continues. Shimon Shiffer in Yediot Ahronot is critical of Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ya’alon and IDF chief Gantz, saying that Israel has adopted a strategy of passive defence rather than offensive initiative.

Meanwhile, the intense fighting between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters on the Golan Heights, next to Israel’s border is widely covered. Haaretz says that President Assad is fighting to regain control of the area while Israel Hayom says that “Al-Qaeda is on the Golan border,” in the form of Islamist group the al-Nusra Front. Maariv speculates that the Syrian border could become the next front for conflict. Israel Radio news reports that 43 United Nations peacekeepers have been kidnapped by an unnamed group in the Syrian part of the Golan. Writing in Israel Hayom, Yoav Limor contends that given the choice, from Israel’s perspective Assad’s forces are the lesser of two evils.