Israeli aircraft have struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip, killing a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group and two of his sons.

Ireland’s refusal to support a United Nations inquiry into allegations of war crimes in Gaza is a dereliction of the state’s proud humanitarian history, it has been claimed.

The UN's Secretary General says he is "appalled" by an attack on a school in Gaza which has killed at least 16 people.

Israeli tank shells hit a compound housing a UN school in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside.

More than 300 protestors are holding a "die-in" demonstration outside the Department of Foreign Affairs this evening to mark the number of people killed in Gaza.

Air France and Germany’s two largest airlines have cancelled more flights to Tel Aviv because of continuing safety concerns amid the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Unicef says 168 children have died in the violence in Gaza, as Israel has been told it may be guilty of war crimes.

The UN’s senior human rights official has told diplomats that Israel’s military and Hamas militants appear to have violated international humanitarian law and might have committed war crimes during their two-week war in the Gaza Strip.

John Kerry flew into Israel’s main airport today despite a US ban in a sign of his determination to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip – despite little evidence of progress in negotiations.

The UN secretary-general said it is his “hope and belief” that his emergency mission to the Middle East will lead to an end to the fighting between Hamas and Israel.

The son of a decorated RUC officer has pointed to his family’s experience of the Northern Ireland conflict as proof positive of the immorality and cynicism of Israel’s stance on the bombing of Gaza.

Israeli troops have uncovered more than a dozen cross-border tunnels and battled Gaza militants on the second day of a ground operation, as the Palestinian death toll climbed past 330 and diplomats scrambled to revive ceasefire efforts.

Israel’s military used reckless force in Gaza earlier this year, resulting in needless deaths and damage, a group of former Israeli soldiers said in a report today.

The United Nations Security Council expressed concern at the findings of an investigation that accused Israel of gross negligence and recklessness during the war in Gaza, but indicated it planned no action against the Jewish state.

Conflict-ravaged Gaza is still being starved of food and medicines but its children offer fresh hope for the future, an Irish UN official said today.

Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a shield during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN human rights experts said today.

An increasingly disturbing picture of the Israeli army’s conduct in the Gaza war has emerged as more troops described wanton vandalism to Palestinian homes, humiliation of civilians and loose rules of engagement that resulted in unnecessary deaths.

A long-range rocket from Gaza landed in an Israeli city today, police said.

More than 5,000 Hamas supporters rallied in Gaza tonight, as a top Hamas politician appeared in public for the first time since the war's start and remained defiant despite Hamas's heavy losses.

Israeli warplanes have pounded smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border after a Palestinian bomb killed an Israeli soldier.

Gaza’s fragile ceasefire was broken today when an Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb.

The Israeli military said today it had withdrawn all its soldiers from the Gaza Strip.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip today to inspect the devastation wrought by Israel’s three-week onslaught.

Israel hopes to pull all its troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time Barack Obama is inaugurated as president of the United States tomorrow.

Israel has said that it intends to take control of the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials say troops will leave the Gaza Strip before tomorrow’s inauguration of Barack Obama as the new US president.

Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said tonight that Israel will unilaterally halt its 22-day Gaza offensive.

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

Israeli forces pounded dozens of Hamas targets early today as the army kept up pressure on the Islamic militant group ahead of a crucial vote on whether to end Israel’s punishing three-week-long campaign against Gaza’s rulers.

The Palestinian militant Hamas group will continue fighting against Israel if none of its demands for a ceasefire are met, an official from the group said today.

Israel said it was approaching the “endgame” of its three-week offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers and scheduled a Security Cabinet vote today on a truce proposed by Egypt.

Israel today announced it was close to ending the bloody fighting it began three weeks ago in Gaza Strip.

Hamas' top political chief refused to accept Israel's demands for a ceasefire today, insisting the siege of Gaza must be lifted before his group halts rocket attacks.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today urged Israel to declare a unilateral ceasefire in its war on Gaza.

Top Israeli diplomats were heading for Egypt and the United States today in what appeared to be a final push toward a ceasefire to end Israel’s punishing Gaza offensive against Hamas militants.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael Martin has today called for an international inquiry to be held into the attack on the United Nation's headquarters in Gaza.

The United Nations Gaza HQ was set on fire by an Israeli bombardment today as the organisation’s chief Ban Ki-moon was in the area on a peacemaking mission.

The Ireland-Palestinian Solidarity Campaign is holding another protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin today.

The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, has again condemned Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli tanks shelled Gaza City today and ground troops thrust deep into a crowded neighbourhood for the first time.

Egypt and Hamas are close to a deal for a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, where the death toll from the Israeli offensive exceeded 1,000, officials said.

Venezuela and Bolivia broke off diplomatic relations with Israel to protest its military offensive in Gaza.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden today urged Muslims to launch a jihad, or holy war, to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The Israeli navy intercepted an Iranian ship loaded with medicine, food and clothing destined for Gaza and forced the vessel to head toward an Egyptian port, Iran’s state television reported today.