Across the pond

Now there is a cease-fire which appears to be holding, I am updating the figures in my blog at the end of last week, drawing on this evening’s article on the BBC web site. The Palestian death toll is now more than 1,300 and the Israeli death toll remains at 13.

Inside Gaza, according to the BBC, there are now 50,800 homeless and 400,000 without running water. Some 4,000 buildings have been destroyed and 12,000 have been severely damaged.

For the present I have nothing more to add on this subject to what I wrote last week. But I shall be scrutinising President Obama’s speech tomorrow to look for clues as to how US policy towards this region is going to change.