Operation Protective Edge is at a critical stage. The next few days will reveal whether current cease-fire efforts are viable. If they fail, the campaign could stretch beyond the original objective of destroying Hamas' terror tunnels. For now, each side it trying to maximize its achievements. Hamas noted a significant achievement on Tuesday when a rocket hit a Yehud home, prompting many Western airlines to announce a temporary suspension of their flights to Israel. The effects of this decision go beyond its immediate impact on incoming tourism and Israeli vacation plans. Ben-Gurion International Airport is a symbol -- of sanity, of normalcy, of routine. If the airport does not resume full operations shortly, Israel will be hard pressed to maintain that life here goes on despite the fighting, and the financial and economic ramifications might be problematic as well. One could suspect Washington of being behind American carriers' decision to suspend their flights to pressure Israel into ending the Gaza campaign. After faltering with their response in the early stages of Operation Protective Edge and causing damage to cease-fire talks with their diplomatic dalliance with Qatar, the U.S. is now throwing its weight behind Egyptian mediation efforts. Cairo maintains its demand that Hamas must hold fire before any of its social-economic demands -- opening the Rafah crossing and having the Palestinian Authority transfer the funds necessary to pay Hamas employees' wages -- are discussed. Hamas has rejected this proposal, prompting Egypt to propose something else: declaring an indefinite humanitarian cease-fire, during which all security and civilian issues will be discussed. This proposal essentially spells somewhat of an operational pause. The IDF would be required to remain in Palestinian territory without fighting until such time that an agreement is reached, but it would be able to continue its counter-tunnel operations. Israel has, in principle, agreed to both proposals, but Hamas has rejected them. Hamas asked for a five-hour humanitarian cease-fire on Tuesday, but this time Israel refused, fearing Hamas would use it to transfer weapons and supplies to its operatives and improve their position on the ground. As Israel sees it, this is an "all or nothing situation" -- either a cease-fire is reached, or the fighting continues. Hamas' adamant objections have prompted the military to prepare to expand the ground operations, including calling up additional reservists. The tunnels remain the main focus of the ground operation. Twenty-eight tunnels have already been located on the Palestinian side of the border, including the majority of the terror tunnels included in the intelligence assessments presented to the military prior to the operation. Some of these tunnels have been destroyed, but the military still needs several more days to deal with all of them. If a cease-fire is declared before that, the IDF will continue its counter-tunnel efforts from the Israeli side of the border. Israel also stands to demand that the tunnel issue be addressed in detail in any cease-fire agreement. The IDF's efforts to locate all the tunnels have been taking place against the backdrop of the growing devastation in some of Gaza Strip's neighborhoods, which is making it harder to locate shafts and entryways. IDF sources pegged the number of Palestinian casualties at 300, saying that the majority of those killed since the ground operation has begun were terrorists. The Gaza Strip neighborhood of Shujaiyya -- a Hamas stronghold -- has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the campaign so far, but the Golani Brigade, which suffered significant losses in the area on Sunday, has been able to hold its ground, assisted by the Israeli Air Force. Another war being waged now is a war of nerves, focused on the fate of IDF Sgt. Oron Shaul, who has been declared missing in action and presumed dead. The IDF refrained from confirming Shaul's MIA status until Tuesday, despite Hamas' Sunday announcement alleging it had been able to abduct an Israeli soldier. The IDF's delay stemmed from the difficulties in identifying the remains of the soldiers killed in Sunday's incident, as the armored personnel carrier they were riding in was completely burned. The identification process began only after the Gaza Division's Northern Brigade was able to extract the APC from the area. Only then were the soldiers' remains transferred to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine. The initial inquest into the Shujaiyya incident has concluded that the APC, carrying a Golani officer and eight of his soldiers, experienced a technical malfunction and stalled. A second APC was sent in to extract it. After the company commander and the driver left the vehicle to connect the towing cables, it was hit by either an anti-tank missile or explosive device. The two survivors from the incident said their seven comrades had remained inside the APC. Six casualties have been identified at this point. Shaul's remains have yet to be identified, and the IDF has declared him MIA. The IDF's operational premise is that Shaul did not survive the incident and that Hamas is most likely in possession of some of his remains or perhaps his personal effects, such as his military identification tags, which they intend to use to claim they have captured a living soldier. Israel believes that if that was the case, Hamas would have produced proof to that effect immediately, to mark a significant achievement in the fighting. The fact that this has not happened reinforces the military's premise that Shaul was killed in battle. Unless further forensic testing determines that Shaul's remains have been found, Israel will have to decide whether it is willing to pay a price for remains. This issue was visited in the past, when Naval Special Forces Staff Sgt. Erez Ashkenazi was killed in Gaza in 2003 and Hamas claimed to be in possession of some of his remains. His family resolved any dilemma by announcing they were not interested in an exchange for his remains.
