Israeli shells have killed 40 people and injured 60 at a UN-run school in Gaza – the third hit so far – fuelling accusations that the IDF are acting outside international legal and humanitarian standards.

Three Anglican bishops have joined public figures in a call for the European Union to refuse further privileges to Israel while it remains in breach of international law and acting brutally in Gaza.

Despite conflict in Gaza, bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are proceeding with plans to travel to the Middle East today.

Over 4000 Israeli ground troops are now operating inside Gaza. 550 Palestinians and 5 Israelis have died. Many hundreds of Gazans have been injured and one million are living without electricity.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has said her “intensive diplomatic activity in recent days is aimed at deflecting the pressure for a cease-fire to allow enough time for the operation to achieve its goals.”

Ground forces from Israel have entered the Gaza Strip in four different places, a week after its bombing offensive began and in spite of statements that a territorial incursion was not intended.

As 2009 begins, the United Nations Security Council is meeting to discuss the crisis in the Gaza Strip and behind-the-scenes discussions are going on with leading protagonists on both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has pushed aside global calls for a 48-hour truce in the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid in and give diplomacy a chance to take over from bloodshed and killing.

On the eve of New Year 2009, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has said that violence can offer no solution to conflicts such as those in Israel-Palestine, and a just peace is the only basis for security.