20 killed as Gaza offensive intensifies

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to prepare for a “significant expansion” of the operation, as soldiers fired volleys of tank shells and clashed with Palestinian fighters in a bid to weaken the enclave’s Hamas rulers.

Israel launched the operation late on Thursday after a 10-day campaign of more than 2,000 air strikes against Gaza that had failed to halt relentless Hamas rocket fire on Israeli cities.

Israel’s first major ground offensive in Gaza in over five years came as Egyptian ceasefire efforts stalled. Earlier this week, Israel accepted Cairo’s offer to halt hostilities, but Hamas refused, demanding that Israel and Egypt first give guarantees to ease the blockade on Gaza.

“It is not possible to deal with tunnels only from the air. It needs to be done also from the ground,” Mr Netanyahu said before a special cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.

“We chose to begin this operation after the other options were exhausted and with the understanding that without the operation the price we will pay can be very high.”

Throughout Thursday night, the thud of tank shells echoed across Gaza. Several explosions from Israeli missile strikes shook high-rise buildings in central Gaza City, and pillars of smoke could be seen from the Israeli side of the border.

At Gaza’s main Shifa Hospital, casualties quickly began arriving, including several members of the same family wounded by shrapnel from tank shells. Among those hurt were a toddler and a boy of primary school age.

Gaza health officials said at least 20 Palestinians have been killed since the ground operation began, including three teenage siblings. The Israeli military said it killed 14 militants in different exchanges of fire.

“The ground offensive does not scare us and we pledge to drown the occupation army in Gaza mud,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the first Israeli casualty among troops. The circumstances behind the death of Staff Sergeant Eitan Barak, 20, were not immediately clear, with Hamas’s military wing saying it ambushed Israeli units in the town of Beit Lahiya and caused casualties, but Israeli media saying it was likely to be friendly fire.

Tanks, infantry and engineering forces were operating inside the coastal strip. In a statement, the military said rocket launchers and tunnels were among its 100-plus targets. The military said a number of soldiers were wounded throughout the night.

Israeli officials say the goal is to weaken Hamas militarily and have not addressed the possibility of driving the Islamic militants from power.

However, Hamas has survived Israeli offensives in the past, including a major ground operation in January 2009 from which it emerged militarily weaker, but then recovered. Hamas has since assembled thousands of rockets and built a system of underground bunkers.

Since the start of the air campaign on July 8, more than 260 Palestinians have been killed and over 2,000 wounded, Palestinian officials said. In Israel, one civilian died and several were wounded.

Israeli public opinion appears to strongly support the offensive after days of unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza.

Israeli defence officials said soldiers faced little resistance during the first night of the ground operation.

Forces are expected to spend a day or two staking out positions. Then, they are expected to move to the second phase, which is to destroy tunnels, an operation that could take up to two weeks.