With each day that passes, the fury begets more fury. But while intense air strikes on Gaza and a chokehold blockade from Israel continue, while missile attacks from Gaza and Lebanon also continue, there is still no ground offensive. It is reportedly on hold, at Washington's request.

The Middle East fell off their radar. Now comes a steady stream of leaders who have donned their penitent's garb and flown in to show support and push for peace. The latest is Emmanuel Macron. The French president is travelling to both Israel and the West Bank as the war with Gaza stokes bitter rivalries in France, the European nation that's home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations.

Israel has been saying for days that it is ready for a full ground offensive in Gaza, but outside of limited incursions, the infantry is on standby. According to The New York Times, the US, through its defence secretary, urged his Israeli counterpart to hold off. This in a bid to secure the release of more hostages, like the pair of Americans freed after negotiations brokered by Qatar.

It's wishful thinking to ask about diplomacy when Israel is about to launch a ground invasion of Gaza and daily rocket exchanges with Lebanon's Hezbollah raise the prospect of a second front. But escalation is madness and the world certainly does not need this cycle of polarisation and radicalisation. Diplomacy is not dead, although it may seem like it's on life support.

It's about fury, humiliation, fear and hate. So soon after the attack that killed hundreds at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, neither side wants to hear the other's story. At least two people have been killed in West Bank protests over Tuesday evening's horror, which came on Day 11 of a war sparked by Hamas's shock attack on Israeli civilians. Israel's ground offensive has not even begun. Is there any way to stop this spiral?

It's yet another war on Europe's doorstep. The tensions from Israel-Hamas conflict are felt all the way to Paris, so why is it so hard to get the messaging right? Critics of the European Commission president came down like a ton of bricks on Ursula von der Leyen after a visit to Israel where the former German defence minister left out language on the suffering of Palestinians. She later rectified.

An invasion of Gaza, and then what? In the buildup to a ground operation, Israel’s leadership has vowed to crush Hamas. But beyond public pronouncements, as residents on both sides of the border hold their breath, what is the actual plan? From destroying smugglers' tunnels to reoccupying the territory that Israel left in 2005, the spectrum runs wide.

It's payback time. After the unspeakable horrors perpetrated by Hamas, Israel is now in battle formation. What does revenge look like? Amid the mobilisation, the air raids, with the Gaza Strip blockaded and out of water and electricity, where do civilians go?

There is the horror, the reaction to the horror, and the reaction to the reaction to the horror. As more and more tales emerge of the savagery inflicted on civilians last Saturday by Hamas militants, as loved ones wonder if the missing are captured or dead, the grief and rage mount.

What is just retribution? As Israel reels from the massacre of hundreds of civilians, the capture of hostages and the shattering of its aura of invincibility, there is the immediate reaction. We have seen the call-up of an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and the shutdown of food and fuel to Gaza.