Israeli tanks kill forty at UN school

UP to 40 people were killed today when Israeli tanks shelled close to a school in the Gaza Strip where hundreds were seeking refuge.

Two shells exploded outside the UN-run school, spraying shrapnel on those inside and outside the building in northern Gaza.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was seeking information on the attack at al-Fakhora school in Jabalya refugee camp.

Reuters journalists filmed bodies scattered on the ground amid pools of blood and torn shoes and clothes. A donkey also lay on the ground in its own blood.

Earlier an Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians at another school administered by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip. In both cases, the schools had been used as shelters for those displaced by Israel's offensive against Hamas militants. Israel has accused Hamas of using schools, mosques and residential areas for cover.

The deaths raised to 75 the number of Palestinian civilians killed today, according to medical officials.

They said four militants also died in fighting today and put the total Palestinian toll since Israel began its offensive on 19 December at 629.

Israeli troops today intensified their onslaught by advancing further into Palestinian territory.

Some of the heaviest exchanges came in Gaza City's Shajaiyeh district, a Hamas stronghold, where militants responded to the Israeli bombardment with rocket and machinegun fire.

Israeli troops seized three six-storey buildings, climbing to rooftop gun and observation positions.

They were also reported to be advancing into the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed and 20 wounded when a tank accidentally fired on a building occupied by forces from the elite Golani brigade on the edge of Gaza City. Despite these deaths — Israel's first military loss since its ground offensive began four days ago — the country's leaders insisted the assault on Gaza was going to plan.Israel said a fourth soldier had died, also in an apparent "friendly fire" incident, but reported that it had killed 130 militants since the start of the ground offensive.

Israeli military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich said Hamas was to blame for civilian casualties.

"If Hamas chose cynically to use those civilians as human shields, then Hamas should be accountable," she said.

At least 10 civilians were reported to have been killed today when shells hit houses on the edge of Gaza City and in the Jebaliya camp.

Five more civilians died when a shell fired by an Israeli ship hit their house on the Gaza shore. Residents said it apparently fired at a group of Islamic Jihad militants next to the house. Two of them were killed in the blast.

Witnesses also reported seeing Israeli tanks in Khan Younis, close to the border with Egypt, in what appears to be a fresh move by Israel to prevent Hamas using the area as a conduit for weapons.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar exhorted Palestinians to fight the Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians and Jews abroad. "They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people," he said in a video broadcast on Hamas TV.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, on a visit to Damascus, asked Syria to use its influence to persuade Hamas to co-operate in international peace efforts.