Erstellt am: 5. 8. 2014 - 14:52 Uhr

Gaza Ceasefire

A Reality Check on what's happening in the Middle East.

I guess what you can say is that this situation has arisen so many times before with no real resolution. A flare-up, a conflict with a high death-toll, accusations traded on both sides, followed by a ceasefire. What has happened in recent weeks has all the hallmarks of the short, previous conflict in Gaza, in November of 2012.

We've now reached the stage of a ceasefire where it appears, for now anyway, that Israel is preparing to end its military action in Gaza. In the last 12 hours, we've heard claims that Israel has achieved most of its objectives in reducing Hamas' capabilities of firing rockets. Pressure from western allies to stop causing civilian casualties in Gaza appeared to be growing.

The human cost is staggering. In fact the offensive has been the deadliest since Israeli forces left Gaza back in 2005. According to reports, at least 1,868 Palestinians have been killed. 67 Israelis have been killed, 64 of them soldiers.

Commentators from Israel suggest that the country will join negotiations in Cairo if militants abide by the ceasefire. The deal to be done is the same as before. Hamas wants the ending of the blockade of Gaza by Israel, and Israel wants Hamas militants disarmed.

Why is this ceasefire different to previous pauses in the conflict? Has Israel achieved its aims or does the present truce reflect a response to all the international pressure placed on both sides. And if there is a deal in the making, what kind of agreement is bringing Israel and Hamas to the point where the bombardments could be over? On today's Reality Check, we got the thoughts of writer and broadcaster Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem.

Also on Tuesday's Reality Check...

There have been new calls from Baghdad to the Kurdish autonomous goverment to join together with the Iraqi authorities in order to defeat ISIS. As more gruseome footage of ISIS militants appears on social media sites, we ask what is ISIS's ideology and how do supporters relate to other Muslim militant groups? Dr. Faisal Devji at the University of Oxford has studied the phenomenon of these groups and joins us with his thoughts.