Gaza toll hits 355 on day 12, United Nation chief heads to region

Fresh Israeli bombardments on sunday killed at least 12 people in Gaza, medics said, as the army intensified a 13-day campaign against the besieged Palestinian territory. Today's deaths brought the toll to 355 Palestinians and five Israelis who have died since the operation began on July 8. Heavy artillery shelling east of Gaza City early in the morning killed at least five people, emergency spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Israeli tanks plunged deeper into Gaza and the fighting against Hamas led to a high toll of casualties and a doubling of displaced Palestinians to 40,000, as Gaza's bloodiest conflict since 2009 showed no signs of let-up on its 12th day.

The latest deaths include two girls aged two and six in Gaza's northern Beit Hanun and a 16-year-old in southern Gaza's Rafah. 

The death toll in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza, today increased to 342 - nearly a fourth of them being under the age of 18.

Israel's ground operation followed 10 days of air strikes on Gaza, which failed to stop Hamas's rockets from reaching across the border.

Three Israelis, including a soldier, have also died since the Operation Protective Edge campaign began on July 8.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was to arrive in the region soon to revive a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ban's visit would aim to help Israelis and Palestinians "end the violence and find a way forward", UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman said.

"Israel has legitimate security concerns, and we condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. But we are alarmed by Israel's heavy response," Feltman said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on Sunday repeated a call for the two sides to adopt its cease-fire initiative, saying it is the only offer on the table.

However, Netanyahu has warned of a "significant expansion" of the offensive and Hamas said Israel would "pay a high price" for the invasion.

Hamas terrorists today attempted to infiltrate Israel via an underground tunnel and kill civilians in an Israeli community, a few kilometres from Gaza. Troops killed a Palestinian militant who tunnelled into southern Israel, but others managed to withdraw into Gaza, an army statement said.

"Several terrorists infiltrated Israel through a tunnel from the central Gaza Strip," it said, adding that they fired a machine gun and anti-tank missile at an army patrol.Troops "returned fire, killing a terrorist and forcing the rest back into Gaza."

Hamas use such tunnels to infiltrate Israel as it did in 2006 when soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by the terrorist outfit.

According to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), about 50,000 Palestinians are staying in UN shelters. 

Two Israeli soldiers killed in a cross-border attack

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Saturday, the army said, as the Palestinian death toll from the conflict rose above 300 with no diplomatic solution in sight.

The Israeli military said four other soldiers were wounded in the raid by fighters who reached Israel through a concealed tunnel. One Hamas gunman was killed, while the rest of the group managed to escape back into the Gaza Strip, the military added.

Israel sent ground forces into Hamas-controlled Gaza on Thursday after 10 days of air and naval barrages failed to stop rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

Israeli bulldozers and engineers worked along a mile-wide strip of Gaza's eastern frontier, uncovering 13 tunnels, at least one of them 30 metres (90 feet) deep, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said.

About 95 rocket launchers were also found and destroyed in the sweep, he added.

Israel says more than 1,500 rockets have been fired out of Gaza during this month's fighting, and between 3,000 to 4,000 others destroyed in military strikes - together almost half of the militants' original estimated arsenal.

The Israeli military urged Palestinians to flee an ever-growing area of Gaza ahead of further military action in the Mediterranean enclave. Locals say about half of the territory's 1.8-million population have been told to move.

With both the Israeli and Egyptian borders sealed off, Gazans say they have few places to escape to.

The largest United Nations agency in Gaza, UNRWA, said about 61,500 people had sought refugee in its buildings, mainly schools - more than in any previous conflict there between Israel and Islamist militants.