A truce between Israel and Hamas holds for now, but the recent carnage could herald further geopolitical instability in the MENA. As a result, oil price will stay high and damage the global economy, which is already "at sea".

The ceasefire negotiated over Gaza has held, but there are few reasons to think that it will last indefinitely, let alone become a turning point in relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Long live the Arab Spring - despite the murmurs about Morsi's "pharaonic" decree in Egypt and the Syrian bloodbath, I refuse to lose faith in the people of the Arab world.

Bolder thinking is needed on all sides if deaths in Gaza are going to produce something positive, and not just another nail in the coffin of the two-state solution.

One story has dominated the news beyond all others this week. Sadly, it's not remotely a new one: Gaza.

It seems no coincidence that the uptick in violence that Hamas directed or allowed to be directed by more militant groups against Israel this year came in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

What is certain at this point in time is that the Middle East is once again at crisis point and that the international system must keep an eye on unfolding events.

The core issue in the conflict is not "settlements" nor "occupation" nor even land. After all Israel is the size of New Jersey. The Arab world controls more land than the USA. And Jordan, which is 78% of Balfour Mandate Palestine, alone is four times the size of Israel.

Within Israel and within Gaza, there is madness on both sides. Yet greater than the mad minority are a majority who long for peace. Neither Israel nor Gaza need unquestioning support. They do not need more tribalism. Debate - honest, open and informed - is a far more powerful tool, a far more effective peacekeeper.

What this conflict lacks is a politician on either side (or both) who can see that violence serves only to perpetuate more violence. The massive wall across the length of Israel's border did stop the suicide bombings, but unless the Israelis can build it 30,000 feet high it's not going to stop the shells landing in Ashkelon. (If there are any Israeli Ministers reading this by the way, that's a joke, please don't try it.)

If the IRA were firing rockets into mainland Britain from Ireland on a daily basis, we would retaliate and bomb the Falls Road.

Just as the reams of fervent pieces I read in the British media supporting Palestine make wholly worthwhile points, so too does the American press make the same justifications for the opposing side, and perhaps a wider cross referencing of reading on the matter might encourage people to look at the situation anew.

Foreign Secretary William Hague will address the House of Commons today on the "terrible situation in Gaza". In recent days, Hague has blamed the l...