86.
--Number of Palestinians killed in first three days of Operation Protective Edge.**

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• 86 killed in Gaza; US trying to delay ground invasion
• Sing a song for compromise // Etgar Keret
• Senior Hamas official to Haaretz: "We want to return to calm, but we won't raise a white flag"; Israelis, you have no idea what is happening to us in Gaza // Abeer Ayoub; 13 years of violence and killing on southern border
• Gaza Strip, entrance crossing // Amos Harel
• Like someone driven by a missile - PM's coalition closing in fast // Yossi Verter
• And how will we know when we won? // Amir Oren
• In Cairo's eyes, Hamas is not Gaza // Zvi Bar'el

Yedioth Ahronoth

• Direct hit - Last night: Heavy barrage on south, no injuries
• The mother of all tunnels - Special first visit from the enormous Hamas tunnel near Kerem Shalom // Nahum Barnea
• Alone in the military campaign // Sima Kadmon
• Ground reality // Alex Fishman
• The attack dilemma // Yossi Yehoshua
• The heart's impatience // (Singer) Shlomo Artzi
• Where do we go from here?
• No to a wide-scale action // Gen. (res.) Yoav Glant
• Time for a ceasefire // Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin
• Questions between the sirens // Shimon Shiffer
• Sanctify the normality // Education Minister Shai Piron
• Security zone // Zvi Hauser
• Patience required // Yoaz Hendel
• What to say to Hamas // Ben-Dror Yemini
• In the line of fire // Nechama Dweik
• Things we see from there // Special report from Gaza

Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links)

• Preparing the ground - Increasing assessment that Israel will soon begin ground invasion in Gaza Strip
• From the south to the north: Two soldiers injured by mortar, direct hits in Beer Sheva and Ashdod and missiles intercepted over Gush Dan
• The Gaza Dilemma // Yossi Melman
• Amb. Ron Prosor sounded a siren and said to his colleagues in the UN: You have 15 seconds to find cover
• Letters for the drawer // Ben Caspit
• With all the bubbles // Kalman Libskind
• How do we get out of this? Avi Benayahu
• The box of wonders //
• The Ramaddan War: This is how Israel got caught in Hamas' battle for survival against Egypt and the Palestinian Authority // Avi Issacharoff
• Three years to the social justice protest: The full lexicon of the new Israeli economic discourse

Israel Hayom

• "We will attack, protect, continue" - Operation Protective Edge: Heavy barrage at Beersheva, Mitzpeh Ramon, Ashdod, Jerusalem, Rishon L'Tsiyon - and up to Tel-Aviv; Two IDF soldiers wounded, hits at homes in Negev; AP: Obama offered that US broker ceasefire
• Home Front strengthening IDF // Motti Sasson
• Time for a strategic campaign // (Former Shin Bet chief) Avi Dichter
• "It's not the Six Day War" - Wanted: A return to calm // Yoav Limor
• Beware of the hornets' nest // Dan Margalit
• Till the last of the terrorists // Tzvika Fogel
• Germany furious at US: Merkel deported the CIA representative in Berlin
• Visitor centers and malls invite you for fun in safety shelters
• The World Cup: Expansive coverage at website

Day 3 of Operation Protective Edge and the Hebrew papers examined in what direction the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was taking the military campaign. On the ground, a barrage of rockets from Gaza hit Israel and a heavy barrage of rockets from Israel hit Gaza, raising the death toll to 90 Palestinians. The US said it opposed a ground invasion and offered to broke a ceasefire.

After a seven hour cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: "So far, the campaign is going as planned, but we expect further stages later on. If innocent civilians are hurt this is because Hamas deliberately hides behind Palestinian civilians."  By Thursday evening, more than 350 rockets and mortar shells had been fired from Gaza toward Israel since the operation began. The Iron Dome missile defense system shot down over 70 rockets aimed at Israeli cities and towns since the operation began, with a near-90% success rate, according to the IDF. Long-range rockets were fired at Tel Aviv twice on Thursday morning. Rockets later hit the Jerusalem area, and a rocket barrage was fired across southern and central Israel on Thursday evening. Haaretz has an excellent update of the main events of Day 3.

Israel intensified its aerial offensive Thursday, hitting 1,000 targets since the beginning of the operation, 230 of them on Thursday. The targets included the homes of senior Hamas operatives, weapons mills, rocket caches, tunnels, concealed rocket launchers, communications infrastructure, and command posts, reported Israel Hayom. What it did not report was the serious damage to civilian infrastructure. The Gaza City municipality was completely destroyed after Israeli airstrikes hit nearby areas, Maan reported. The main butchery building in the city, which provides meat for the whole city, was also destroyed by airstrikes. The sewage plant, which treats and refines 25% of the wastewater, was completely destroyed. And the airstrikes destroyed a water line that provides clean drinking water for al-Shate refugee camp.
 
That's despite the fact that Netanyahu rejected the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman's suggestion to cut the water and electricity to Gaza, saying it wouldn't pass the legal advisors.
 
Only in the fifth paragraph did Israel Hayom write about the Palestinian casualties - in one sentence: "Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip said over 85 people had been killed and over 300 wounded since the offensive began."
 
**Only Haaretz+ reported on its front page the number of Palestinian casualties. It also ran an article devoted to the deaths on the other side and reported how 17 people were killed in Thursday morning IAF airstrikes on a beach cafe and on a home. It also reported that a Hamas activist ridiculed Netanyahu's claims that Hamas infrastructure was being targeted, noting the high number of buildings containing families and civilians that had been hit. Another 537 people have been injured. Maan is keeping a list of the names and ages of the Palestinians killed by Israel's assault on Gaza. 

Both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were busy calling leaders abroad. According to Maariv, Netanyahu told the MKs in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that he spoke with numerous Western leaders and received "agreement and understanding" for Israel's military campaign.  Abbas spoke yesterday with Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan for intervention.

Netanyahu spoke with both US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Obama offered to negotiate a cease-fire. [Note: This is very interesting because in principle, the US has refused to speak with Hamas because it defines it as a terror organization. But although Netanyahu has said he wanted to reach calm, he told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting that a cease-fire with Hamas was not on Israel's agenda.
 
At the emergency UN Security Council meeting, Israel and the U.S. tried to ward off UN condemnations of Gaza air strikes. The US spoke with Jordan, which represents the Arab states. During the session, Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor used a gimmick and shocked delegates by sounding of a 15-second alarm and telling delegates that's how long they have to get to a protected area. "Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour had no props for his appeal to the council 'to stop the bleeding' and revive the Palestinians' 'dying hopes' for an end to the conflict and peace with freedom," wrote Ynet's Yitzhak Benourin.
 
MidEast Quartet envoy Tony Blair gave an interesting interview to Ynet explaining to Israeli viewers that Israel won't be able to destroy Hamas. He also compared the situation of Gazans and Israelis, saying that "you have the Iron Dome which is a huge protection for you" as well as the numerous bomb shelters and protected rooms across the country, but that Gazans don't have that." (Ynet+VIDEO)

The UN chief appealed for a Gaza ceasefire, but Prosor also said that Israel's goal "is not a cease-fire, but to dismantle Hamas rocket infrastructure."At the end of the session at the UN, Prosor made rounds in the building, playing the sound of sirens from his iPhone, explaining that Israelis have 15 seconds to run to shelter. He then declared, "We don't want a cease-fire. Our goal is to dismantle Hamas' rocket infrastructure," Barak Ravid reported.