Doctors in Gaza said more than 40 people died , including children , in what appears to be the biggest single loss of life of the campaign when Israeli bombs hit al-Fakhora school , in Jabaliya refugee camp , while it was packed with hundreds of people who had fled the fighting .
in Jabaliya refugee camp
doctor gaza say 40 people die include child appear big single loss life campaign israeli bomb hit al-fakhora school jabaliya refugee camp pack hundred people flee fighting
Doctors in Gaza said more than 40 people died , including children , in what appears to be the biggest single loss of life of the campaign when Israeli bombs hit al-Fakhora school , <m> in Jabaliya refugee camp </m> , while it was packed with hundreds of people who had fled the fighting .
Israel 's assault on Gaza has exacted the bloodiest toll of civilian lives yet , when the bombing of UN schools being used as refugee centres and of housing killed more than 50 people , including an entire family of seven young children .
The UN protested at a `` complete absence of accountability '' for the escalating number of civilian deaths in Gaza , saying `` the rule of the gun '' had taken over .
Doctors in Gaza said more than 40 people died , including children , in what appears to be the biggest single loss of life of the campaign when Israeli bombs hit al-Fakhora school , <m> in Jabaliya refugee camp </m> , while it was packed with hundreds of people who had fled the fighting .
Most of those killed were in the school playground and in the street , and the dead and injured lay in pools of blood .
Pictures on Palestinian TV showed walls heavily marked by shrapnel and bloodstains , and shoes and shredded clothes scattered on the ground .
Windows were blown out .
Hours before , three young men who were cousins died when the Israelis bombed Asma elementary school in Gaza City .
They were among 400 people who had sought shelter there after fleeing their homes in Beit Lahiya , in northern Gaza .
Abed Sultan , 20 , a student , and his cousins , Rawhi and Hussein Sultan , labourers aged 22 , died .
Abed Sultan 's father , Samir , said the bodies were so mangled that he could not tell his son from the cousins .
`` We came to the school when the Israelis warned us to leave , '' he said .
`` We hoped it would be safe .
We were 20 in one room .
We had no electricity , no blankets , no food .
`` Suddenly we heard a bomb that shook the school .
Windows smashed .
Children started to scream .
A relative came and told me one of my sons was killed .
I found my son 's body with his two cousins .
They were cut into pieces by the shell . ''
The UN was particularly incensed over targeting of the schools , because Israeli forces knew they were packed with families as they had ordered them to get out of their homes with leaflet drops and loudspeakers .
It said it had identified the schools as refugee centres to the Israeli military and provided GPS coordinates .
Israel accused Hamas of using civilians as cover , and said the Islamist group could stop the assault on Gaza by ending its rocket attacks on Israel .
The Palestinian authority president , Mahmoud Abbas , last night delivered an impassioned plea to the UN security council to act immediately to stop the Israeli operation , which he described as a `` catastrophe '' for his people .
Israel has agreed a `` humanitarian corridor '' to allow Palestinians to get essential goods .
The rising casualty toll , more than 640 Palestinians killed since the assault began 12 days ago , gave fresh impetus to diplomatic efforts .
The White House offered its first hint of concern at Israel 's actions by calling on it to avoid civilian deaths .
The president-elect , Barack Obama , broke his silence by saying he was `` deeply concerned '' about civilian casualties on both sides .
He said he would have `` plenty to say '' about the crisis after his swearing in .
Gordon Brown said the Middle East was facing its `` darkest moment yet '' but hoped a ceasefire could be arranged soon .
Explaining its attack on al-Fahora school , the Israeli military claimed that a mortar was fired from the playground , and it responded with a single shell whichkilled known Hamas fighters ; the resulting explosion was compounded because Hamas `` booby-trapped the school '' .
Two Hamas militants were among the dead , both part of a rocket-launching cell .
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency , John Ging , said three shells landed at the perimeter of the school .
`` It was entirely inevitable if artillery shells landed in that area there would be a high number of casualties , '' he said .
He said UN staff vetted those Palestinians who sought shelter at the school .
`` So far we 've not had violations by militants of our facilities , '' he said , though responding to questions he accepted there had been clashes between Hamas and the Israeli army in the area .
Earlier in the day , Ging visited Gaza 's hospital and was shocked at the scale of civilian casualties .
`` What you have in this hospital is the consequences of political failure and the complete absence of any accountability for actions that are being taken .
It 's the rule of the gun now , and it has to stop , '' he said .
At least 12 of one family , seven children aged from one to 12 , three women and two men , were killed in an air strike on their house in Gaza City .
Nine others were believed trapped .
Israel continues to insist most of those killed by its forces are Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters - although its assertion it is going to extraordinary lengths to target only `` terrorists '' has been undermined by a tank firing on a building used by Israeli troops , killing four of them , on Monday .
Another soldier was killed yesterday as Israeli forces continued their push into Gaza City .
Tanks and troops also moved on the southern town of Khan Yunis .
The invasion has yet to achieve what Israel says is its goal of stopping rocket attacks .
Hamas fired more than 30 into Israel yesterday , one to within 20 miles of Tel Aviv at Gadera , wounding a baby .
The de facto Hamas prime minister in Gaza , Ismail Haniyeh , issued a statement from hiding , saying that the Gazans would defeat Israel .
`` [ Israel ] has failed to force the population to surrender , '' he said .