The president of the UN top human rights body says the commission on possible violations of the rules of war in Gaza is "operational" despite the decision by George Clooney’s fiancée to pull out of the panel.

He may not have quite the online pulling power of President Higgins, but David Norris’s impassioned Senate speech on the Gaza crisis has already chalked up in the region of 250,000 views on YouTube.

A senior Hamas official told supporters at a Gaza city rally that the war with Israel won’t be over until the group’s demands for a lifting of the Gaza blockade are met, insisting that its fighters would never give up their arms.

There will not be an enduring stability between Israel and Palestinians in the near future, President Barack Obama has warned, unless leaders on both sides take political risks.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas meant to last at least three days has taken effect in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has said it is calling up another 16,000 reservists, giving the military the ability to substantially widen its bloody Gaza offensive.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US secretary of state John Kerry that Israel will begin a 12-hour pause in Gaza hostilities starting at 7am Israeli time today (5am Irish time), a US official said last night.

The Israeli Cabinet has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire to end a week of conflict with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip that has killed 185 Palestinians and exposed millions of Israelis to Hamas rocket fire.

Israeli aircraft struck the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire into southern Israel, both sides said.

Up to 50 Irish campaigners are expected to join a coalition of pro-Palestinian supporters on a second aid flotilla to Gaza, it was revealed today.

The protest ship seized by Israel in a deadly raid in May returned to Turkey today.

Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound aid vessel swiftly and without meeting resistance today, preventing it from breaking a naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory days after a similar effort turned bloody.

Palestinian militants killed an Israeli farm worker today in their first rocket attack from Gaza since last year’s Israeli offensive.

A NUMBER of the world’s best-known pioneers for peace and justice have demanded that the UN carry out a full-scale investigation into allegations of war crimes during the latest Gaza war.

The French president’s office says he will co-preside a summit meeting in Egypt to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Israel and Hamas responded to a UN peace demand by hammering away at each other with bombs, shells and rockets today.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution today, calling for an immediate and durable ceasefire between Hamas militants and Israeli forces fighting in the Gaza Strip.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today called for an urgent ceasefire amid the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

Israel defied mounting international pressure for a ceasefire and continued its devastating air attacks on Gaza today.

A Palestinian driving a bulldozer went on a deadly rampage in Jerusalem today, killing at least three people and wounding 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

Gaza erupted in the worst day of violence in a month, with at least 20 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers dead, and putting Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire in jeopardy.

Israeli military officials have denied Palestinian reports of an air strike and artillery fire near Gaza City this morning in which Palestinians said three people were killed.

Palestinian militants from Hamas today called for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month old ceasefire.

A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding this morning, stopping Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli operations for the first time in five months.

Rocket and mortar fire threatened a ceasefire aimed at ending five months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian clashes in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Army dropped leaflets on towns and villages in the Gaza Strip today, warning residents that anyone with an arsenal of weapons in their homes would be attacked.

Defence minister Amir Peretz today approved the next part of the Israeli army’s invasion into the Gaza Strip, military officials said.

Palestinian gunmen linked to the ruling Fatah faction stormed an election building in the southern Gaza Strip today, forcing most of the workers to flee.

Powerful explosions ripped apart headquarters and sent water and communication towers crashing to the ground today as Israel destroyed the last of its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and prepared to hand over the territory to the Palestinians early next week.

Israeli police today surrounded an encampment of opponents to the Gaza withdrawal, pushing back a surging crowd marching against the plans to demolish Jewish settlements.

Some 20,000 police and soldiers were deployed in southern Israel today to block what was billed as the biggest march yet of Gaza withdrawal opponents – a crucial test run for security forces and protesters ahead of the August pullout.

Israel’s Supreme Court upheld today the government’s Gaza withdrawal plan, removing the last legal obstacle to this summer’s pullout.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented the most detailed timetable yet for a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to his Likud Party today, and warned party rebels that the plan “will be implemented, period”.

An electrical failure in a plastics factory in Gaza City set off an explosion and an engineer lost his hands, police said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today praised an Israeli army strike in the Gaza Strip that killed 14 Palestinians and wounded more than 100.