(dpa) - Up to 234 Palestinians have been killed in 2008 so far as a result of Israeli military attacks over 301 in the entire year 2007, according to figures published by the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, Tuesday.
UNRWA said 123 Palestinians including 55 unarmed civilians among them 27 children, died last week as a result of Israeli Defence Force operations. Five Israelis were killed in the same period, four from military operations inside Gaza and one by a rocket landing in Israel.
The Israeli army had acted as Gaza-based militants showered southern Israel with 258 missiles and mortars.
The agency said last Saturday, when 63 Palestinians were killed and 172 injured, had been the "deadliest" day for Palestinians since 2000.
It called for an end to the cycle of attack and counter attack in Gaza Tuesday and for a return to peaceful dialogue.
UNRWA, which provides basic services for Palestinian refugees, said only 12 of 214 schools in Gaza were operational because of military damage or shortages of materials. School attendance in the north of the Strip was zero, 20 per cent in Gaza City and at best stood at between 40 to 65 per cent in central areas.