Deadly Attack On Gaza School

As many as 40 Palestinians have been killed in an attack on a UN-run school, witnesses have said, as aid agencies warn Gaza is in the grip of a major humanitarian crisis.

Two Israeli tank shells reportedly exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel on people who had sought shelter in the building.
A source inside the Israel Defence Forces said explosives had been planted inside the school which caused the civilian casualties.

"After an initial investigation, not confirmed completely, the possibility arises that a mortar shell was fired from the school towards an Israeli army force," the source told Sky News.

"The force fired back with one shell and it seems that the school was booby-trapped, thus causing a secondary explosion."
Earlier, at least 12 members of the same extended family, including seven young children, were said to have been killed in an Israeli air attack.
Gaza medics say the 11-day Israeli offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip has now killed at least 635 Palestinians - but this figure cannot be verified.
Meanwhile, three Israeli soldiers have been killed by fire from one of their own tanks and two others died in separate incidents as forces press further south.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Oxfam worker John Prideaux-Brune told Sky News: "All the information we are getting is clearly showing there is a real humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza right now.

"We have people with no food, no water, no electricity, no heating in the middle of winter.

"Numerous people have had to leave their homes because they have been destroyed or are too badly damaged to live in," he added, echoing earlier warnings given by other agencies.

Mr Prideaux-Brune also spoke of the difficulty of getting medical aid to those in need after ambulances have become caught up during air strikes.
British volunteer Eva Yeshewitz, who was in a Red Crescent vehicle that was hit, said: "Every day we risk this kind of thing - the medical staff, they're the ones who are paying with their lives."

Israel has said it will not call an end to its offensive until it is assured that Hamas will not have further access to weapons.
Middle East envoy Tony Blair told Sky News that efforts were underway to meet that demand by closing the tunnels into Gaza.
Reporting from near the Israel-Gaza border, Sky News' Dominic Waghorn said: "Israeli troops have now moved right in beyond Jabaliya refugee camp and into the outskirts of Gaza City.

"They are now engaged in house-to-house combat with Hamas.
"The Israeli police have moved us back from the border - but we still have a good view over Gaza City.
"The logic of the move back seems to be to keep us - and the enemy - guessing over Israel's strategy." 
Witnesses have reported that tanks firing cannons and machine guns and supported by helicopter gunships moved into the city of Khan Younis just before dawn.

As the violence escalates, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has defied international calls for a ceasefire.
"The results of the operation must be... that Hamas must not only stop firing but must no longer be able to fire," Mr Olmert is said to have told French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in the region to try to broker a truce.
But Hamas says it will not contemplate a ceasefire until there is a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops.

As the bombardment continued overnight, five Palestinians were killed by tank fire in the central town of Deir al Balah, medics said.
Israeli military officials claim to have captured 80 Hamas fighters and large explosions and heavy exchanges of fire hit the Shejaiya neighbourhood in the east as Israel pressed forward its campaign to halt rocket attacks.
Flares and assault helicopters were seen in the skies above the blacked-out area, where Hamas said it had fired missiles at seven Israeli tanks.
The Islamic Jihad movement said several of its members were killed in the fighting.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, envoy for the Quartet group of powers, said a ceasefire was a priority.
But outgoing US President George W Bush said any truce must include provisions that prevent Hamas firing rockets into Israel.
President-elect Barack Obama expressed concern about the crisis, but stressed he would not intervene in "delicate negotiations" by the Bush administration.