Eurotopics.net

The Israeli military has stepped up its ground operations in the Gaza Strip. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari reported on Tuesday that it had engaged in fierce battles with members of the radical Islamic Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip. And at least 50 people were killed in an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the same region. Commentators stress the complexity of the situation.

Spain's Princess Leonor, heir presumptive to the Spanish throne, has sworn an oath to the constitution at a formal ceremony on her 18th birthday. For the first time the ceremony was held in all the country's languages, but deputies from the regions striving for independence and from the left-wing ruling coalition party Sumar nonetheless stayed away in protest. Commentators are at odds over whether the country's next queen will be able to breathe new life into the Spanish monarchy.

Marina Machete has become the first trans woman to win the Miss Portugal beauty pageant. Shortly afterwards, the well-known author Miguel Sousa Tavares lashed out at Machete on the evening news of a private TV channel, saying among other things that she was not a real woman but a "series of plastic surgeries" whom he would never marry. Portuguese media voice dismay.

Israel has rejected calls by the UN and the EU for an immediate ceasefire and is stepping up its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Israel did not start this war. ... Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. Europe's media look to the future and ask what options there are for bringing peace to the region.