Gaza toll hits 337 on day 12, UN chief heads to region

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was to arrive in the region soon to revive a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israel today pressed on with its open-ended ground operation and intensive air barrages across Gaza, killing 25 people including children that raised the death toll to 337 on the 12th day of the offensive, as UN chief and diplomats scrambled to revive ceasefire efforts.

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.

The latest deaths include two girls aged two and six years old in Gaza's northern Beit Hanun and a 16-year-old in southern Gaza's Rafah. A 20-year-old man died in Khan Yunis also in southern Gaza.

The death toll in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza, today increased to 337 - 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 today 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.

UNRWA expressed concern at the deteriorating conditions in Gaza and called on warring parties to "respect international humanitarian law obligations."

"We estimate that over 47,000 displaced people in Gaza have taken refuge with UNRWA. We have made available 43 of our installations, mainly schools," said Chris Gunness, UN agency's spokesman, in a statement.

In Gaza, Palestinians have begun to flee their homes each time Israel issues warning of an impending bomb attack. The situation became grim after the launch of ground operation by Israelis forces on Thursday.

"There is acute shortage of food, water and electricity. It is almost impossible to sleep during the nights due to heavy bombardment.

"Kids in my family are going through a trauma, wetting beds during the night, since a house was totally destroyed right behind ours", Gaza teenager Karima told PTI.

Israelis, especially in areas close to Gaza, too are spending sleepless nights as sirens wail all the time to warn them of rockets coming their way.

In Dimona, the town where Israel's nuclear reactor is located, a 32-year-old man was killed and three others wounded by a rocket barrage from Gaza Strip, Ynet reported. The death raised the Israeli toll to three.

The four, including a baby and a small boy, are all members of the same family from a local Bedouin community.

"It's impossible to live a normal life and do anything constructive when rockets keep falling in your vicinity. The Israeli anti-missile system has been very successful in intercepting rockets launched on residential areas so far but we still have to be on our toes all the time", Danny, a youngster in Israel's fifth largest city Ashdod, told PTI.

Ashdod has been hit by several grad rockets, demonstrating that Hamas has improved striking capability covering almost all of Israel.

"It is a miracle that there haven't been many casualties in Israel but the conditions in the shelter houses are not human too. People have been taking the Home Front advice seriously which has saved many lives," said another teenager Simhat.

More than 1400 rockets have been fired on Israel since the beginning of latest round of violence affecting almost half of the population