The Israeli government will weigh the future of its military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians increased pressure for a truce.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces struck a school run by the United Nations in Gaza, a UN official said. Israel, which struck at least 40 more Hamas targets overnight, said it responded after its soldiers were fired at from the building.
The school deaths yesterday added urgency to diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a cease-fire as the conflict entered its …

Fighting intensified on the northern outskirts of Gaza City yesterday as a Hamas leader warned that the Islamists would kill Jewish children anywhere in the world in revenge for Israel’s devastating assault.
“They have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine,” Mahmoud Zahar said in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location. “They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people.”
Mr Zahar made his first appearance since Israel launched its offensive. Dressed in a dark suit, he …

Israeli mortar rounds blasted a United Nations-run school that had been converted into a refugee shelter for hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the ten-day war in Gaza, killing more than 40 people today.
It was one of three UN schools hit by Israeli ordnance today. The strike against the Fakhora school in the northern town of Jabaliya was the deadliest single attack of an already blood-soaked offensive.
Israeli army officials said that their forces had been targeted by Hamas mortar fire from within the school compound. They named two alleged Hamas …

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka (AP) — Battle tanks rumbled north, attack helicopters flew overheard and artillery fire roared through the jungles as Sri Lankan forces pushed ahead Sunday with an offensive aimed at capturing the Tamil Tigers’ last strongholds and crushing the rebel group.
A rebel-affiliated Web site reported that the insurgents stalled a military advance on the road to its northeastern stronghold of Mullaittivu killing 43 soldiers and wounding 80 others Sunday, two days after the military seized the rebels’ administrative capital of Kilinochchi.

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday he had “no alternative” but to order a ground incursion in Gaza to end Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The Israeli army’s objectives were to “strike at the military infrastructure that Hamas has established and to take control of the areas from which most of the missiles have been fired” at Israeli territory, Olmert said.
Hamas has vowed to “fight until the last breath,” warning Israel that “Gaza will be your cemetery” as Israeli ground forces entered the …

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israeli troops began moving into Gaza on Saturday night, intent on taking out Hamas rocket-launching sites, after a week of airstrikes into the Hamas-controlled territory, Israel Defense Forces said.
“We have just a short while ago launched the second stage of the operation against Hamas infrastructure,” IDF spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich told CNN.
“The goal is to try and take over some of those launching areas that were responsible for the many launches — the thousands of launches, in fact — toward the Israeli civilians,” she said.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic insurgents appeared to be scrambling for power Saturday, taking over several police stations in the capital as Ethiopian troops who have been propping up the government began to pull out, witnesses said.
Many fear the Ethiopian pullout — and last month’s resignation of Somalia’s president — will cause Islamic militant groups to fight among themselves for power, bringing even more chaos to this beleaguered Horn of African nation.
”We have to show commitment to do our part in security, we want to help people feel secure,” Abdirahim …

CAIRO — Arab countries appeared deeply divided on Wednesday over how to respond to the latest escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with sharply differing comments from foreign ministers at the opening of an emergency Arab League meeting here.
Moderate Arab states generally allied to the United States blamed Palestinian disunity for the crisis and more radical states, some of whom did not attend, urged collective action to defend the Palestinians against Israel.

JERUSALEM — Israel stepped up its diplomatic activity on Thursday, possibly to try to gain more time for its rolling military offensive against Hamas in Gaza while keeping up airstrikes against the radical Islamic group’s infrastructure for a sixth day.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni left for a brief visit to France where she was to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy and other French officials for “an exchange of opinions and ideas” and to share information about Israel’s intentions and plans, an Israeli official said. France is seeking ways to promote …

(AP) Taliban militants are beheading and burning their way through Pakistan’s picturesque Swat Valley, and residents say the insurgents now control most of the mountainous region far from the lawless tribal areas where jihadists thrive.
The deteriorating situation in the former tourist haven comes despite an army offensive that began in 2007 and an attempted peace deal. It is especially worrisome to Pakistani officials because the valley lies outside the areas where al Qaeda and Taliban militants have traditionally operated and where the military is staging a separate offensive.
“You can’t …