Day 26 of Operation Protective Edge

PREAMBLE: Operation Protective Edge enters its 26th day after a deeply traumatic Friday.

A UN- and US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire that was supposed to lead to negotiations on ending the Israel-Hamas war collapsed after a little more than an hour on Friday morning when two Israeli soldiers were killed and a third, Hadar Goldin, was seized during an attack by Islamist gunmen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

President Barack Obama led a chorus of international demands that Hamas release him unconditionally.

Goldin’s father Simha spoke to the press just before Shabbat outside the family home in Kfar Saba, to declare that he was confident the IDF would leave no stone unturned in the effort to ensure his son comes home safe and sound.

There was heavy fighting in the Rafah area through the rest of Friday.

And the Israeli cabinet was still meeting into the night to decide how to steer the ground offensive from here.