Following huge criticism over their deadly shelling of a UN school yesterday, the Israeli army has posted a video justifying the attack on YouTube, insisting that the army was targeted by militants from the school premises. They also highlight a previously posted video which they say shows aerial view images of Hamas firing from a UN school in 2007. Read more and see the videos...

The family of the woman in this image got hold of the surveillance footage after she died in a mental institution. The extent of the abuse they found, is inconceivable. Read more and see the video...

A few hours after midnight on New Year's Eve, a 22-year-old African American was detained by transport police on a subway platform in Oakland, California. The man, who was unarmed, was pinned to the ground and fatally shot in the back. Filmed by several witnesses, evidence of the outrageous scene is now online and circulating the blogosphere. Could the images spark social unrest? Read more and watch the amateur videos...

While the Israeli Army keeps the doors to Gaza firmly shut in the faces of enquiring journalists, the pro-Palestinian press has images of corpses on a loop, a Molotov cocktail of information. Read more...

In Italy it's tradition to fire into the air on New Year's Eve. A custom that left one man dead this year when a 25-year-old was accidentally shot in the head. A Naples journalist was reporting the celebrations on Sunday. The scene is quite comical. See the video...

Team Observers has made a selection of the best videos, photos and Observers' accounts of 2008. Vote for your favourites.

We've selected what we think are the best amateur videos published on The Observers in 2008. Vote for the one that impressed you most.

We've selected a few of the videos that made us laugh in 2008. Watch the videos and vote for your favourite...

Israel's war against Hamas is being drawn out on the internet as well as on the ground. The Israeli Army has just launched a YouTube channel to house videos of its aerial attacks - which happen to be perfectly targeted. A shocking measure? Read more and see the videos...

While Hamas is throwing rockets by hand, the Israel military is unveiling high-tech weaponry like the new "Iron Fist", capable of exploding a missile before it has even reached its target. Will technology make all the difference in Gaza? Read more...