The Israeli cabinet rejected calls from France and other nations for an immediate 48-hour pause in the devastating air offensive against Gaza, continuing the assault into a fifth day Dec. 31 despite mounting international pressure. A foreign ministry spokesman said that Israel would only consider a "permanent" halt to its operation, and only under "certain conditions." The spokesman said "Hamas must stop its rocket fire and acquiring arms" before Israel would "consider" a truce. By a UN count, the offensive has now killed at least 390 people, including 42 children, and wounded more than 1,900 others. (Middle East Online, Dec. 31)

Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip entered a fourth day Dec. 30, with raids on a number of Hamas government buildings and security installations, as well as the Islamic University. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset that Israel is engaged in an "all-out war with Hamas." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned both Israel and Hamas. While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself from rocket attacks, he condemned its "excessive use of force." The death toll has surpassed 350, some 60 of them civilians, by a UN count. (BBC News, IHT, Dec. 30)

Israeli air-strikes continued on Gaza for a second day Dec. 28, bringing the death toll to 292, with more than 1,000 injured, 180 of them seriously. (Ma'an News Agency, Dec. 28) At the 36-hour point in Israel's "Operation Cast Lead," Israeli missiles hit some 40 smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border, killing two and injuring 22. Smuggled fuel being stored in the tunnels ignited, causing huge fires. The blasts prompted hundreds to race for new gaps in the border wall, but the refugees were met by Egyptian security forces, who used force to repel the crowds. (Ma'an News Agency, Dec. 28) Some 150 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel since the air-strikes began, killing one person and injuring about 12. (BBC News, Dec. 28)

A statement from Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, via the independent Palestinian Ma'an News Agency, Dec. 27:

Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided.

It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire, make it stronger and firmer.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called Dec. 27 for a new uprising against Israel after air-strikes in the Gaza Strip killed more than 200. "I call upon you to carry out a third intifada," Meshaal told his followers from Damascus in an AlJazeera TV interview. He called for a "military intifada against the Zionist enemy" as well as "a peaceful intifada internally"—an apparent reference to Hamas' struggle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters, Dec. 27)

Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced by an Israeli military court Dec. 25 to 30 years in prison for heading a "terrorist organization." An Israeli army statement said Saadat, also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was indicted on 19 "terrorism-related charges," including overseeing the PFLP's military operations, membership in an illegal organization, arms-dealing and incitement.

Some 50 Palestinians—many decked out in Santa Claus costumes—hurled stones at Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Bil'in Dec. 26 in a protest against the enclosure of village lands by the "Apartheid Wall." Soldiers sought to disperse the crowd with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. In Na'alin, 200 Palestinians and Israeli supporters also held protests that day, some hurling stones and petrol bombs at Israeli soldiers. Army Radio reported that dozens of young Likud supporters led by MK Gilad Erdan also arrived in Na'alin to express their support for the soldiers. (Haartez, Dec. 26)

A report released by the B'Tselem human rights group Dec. 22 states that the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Jerusalem, is in fact an "illegal" outpost even under Israeli law. Ofra, part of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, is a 168-acre community located between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Nablus, with some 3,000 residents. B'Tselem found that Ofra must be evicted under the stipulations of the Sasson Report, complied by Attorney Talia Sasson at then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's request.