BACKGROUND
The Israeli military says it has carried out three airstrikes on Gaza, ending a brief lull in fighting at the start of a major Muslim holiday. Fighter jets reportedly hit two missile launchers and a rocket factory, in what a defence spokesman said was a response to earlier Hamas rockets fired into Israel. It came as the UN Security Council called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza following an emergency session in New York. The council adopted a presidential statement - one step below a legally-binding resolution - urging Israel and Hamas "to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire". Read more >>
CARTOON
The first panel of the cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times shows UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for an 'unconditional ceasefire'. The title of the cartoon is, of course, ironic, as is Moon's comment 'Well, it's a start ...' The only thing the Israelis and Hamas agree on is their rejection of the ceasefire and the continuation of the fighting.
PUNCTUATION
The three dots as used in the title and in the cartoon itself are called an ellipsis. Ellipses have various uses such as to indicate the omission of words, but here they are used to draw attention to the irony the cartoonist is using.
