Israel

As civilian casualties mount in the Gaza Strip, President-elect Barack Obama is coming under intensifying pressure to end his disengagement and begin working for a halt to the fighting. Obama has argued that President Bush remains in charge of U.S. foreign policy until the inauguration on Jan. 20. But critics say hundreds may die in the next two weeks while the president-elect stands by.

Facts remained murky Wednesday on the Israeli tank shelling of a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip that U.N. relief officials said left 43 Palestinians dead and almost 150 injured. The Israeli military continued to defend its troops, saying they were responding to mortar fire from militants on or near the school grounds, where the U.N. says about 1,600 people were taking shelter from the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr called Wednesday for "revenge operations" against American forces to protest Israel's Gaza Strip offensive. The statement issued by the Shiite Muslim cleric's office in Najaf also urged that Palestinian flags be raised on mosques, churches and other buildings in Iraq and that all countries shut down Israel's embassies. U.S.

Everyone filed off the tour bus outside the police station in Sderot, less than a mile from the Gaza Strip border. More than 30 journalists gathered around as police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld began his practiced presentation, complete with charts, graphs and weapon fragments, emphasizing the increasing range of rockets launched from Gaza and the 1 million Israelis living within the threat zone.

After days of diplomatic wrestling, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Thursday night calling for an "immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip that would lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave. Arab and Western diplomats seemed unconvinced that their handiwork would silence Israeli guns or stop the militant group Hamas from firing rockets into Israel.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday for a noisy, pro-Palestinian rally near the Westwood federal building, marching to Westwood Village and returning to the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue. Earlier, demonstrators crowded the sidewalks at the intersection, some carrying signs reading "Free Palestine" and "Shame on Israel." One group chanted "Intifada," which means "uprising."

Palestinian villagers said the shelling came from the direction of the Israeli border, less than a mile away, scattering flaming objects in their midst and burning down 20 homes and the local United Nations-run school. "One landed in my kitchen and caused a fire," said Zohair Mohammed abu Rejila, 35. "I went to put it out, but another one landed on Mayar, my baby daughter. It was like a block of fire, a piece of plastic on fire.

Supporters of both sides in the conflict in Gaza held another round of boisterous but peaceful demonstrations in front of the Federal Building in Westwood on Sunday, separated by dozens of police officers. At a pro-Palestinian rally that began about noon, hundreds of demonstrators lined the curb on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, waving flags and posters. Some read "End the occupation. Start the peace." Another proclaimed, "Gaza = Auschwitz."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert boasted Monday that he successfully pressured President Bush last week to reverse course on U.S. diplomacy over fighting in Gaza, in an episode that could sharpen tensions between the close allies at a sensitive moment. Speaking to an audience in Ashkelon, Israel, Olmert said he had called Bush last Thursday and convinced him that the United States should not vote for a pending U.N. Security Council resolution urging a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip began with a simply stated goal shared by the senior leadership: cripple Hamas' ability, and break its will, to fire rockets across the border. Seventeen days later, the goal remains elusive, the military operation has slowed, and the political consensus behind it is fraying.