13 July 2014
Last updated at 18:43 ET
Israeli forces have raided a suspected rocket-launching site in Gaza in their first reported ground incursion.
At least 172 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's offensive began, according to health officials in Gaza.
The dead are said to include 17 members of one family who died in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday evening.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants and "terror sites", including the homes of senior operatives. However, the United Nations has estimated that 77% of the people killed in Gaza have been civilians.
The UN Security Council called for a ceasefire and peace talks on Saturday.
In the latest developments
At the scene: Quentin Somerville, BBC News, Ashdod, Israel
Sirens sounded across the country from first light, as rockets
from Gaza continued to hit Israel, but the country's sophisticated Iron
Dome missile defence system intercepted the most dangerous.
Six days into this conflict there has not been a single Israeli death from a Hamas rocket.
Despite the growing number of civilian casualties in Gaza, in Israel more than 90% of Israelis support the air campaign. Israel's tanks stand ready to invade Gaza but there is no widespread support for a ground offensive. That, for now, may be all that is stopping this conflict from escalating.
At the scene: Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Gaza City
For much of the night, the wounded and the dead were brought
into Shifa, Gaza's main hospital. It was the most sustained bombing so
far. For Israel, with US support, it is self-defence but as more
Palestinian civilians die, the pressure for a ceasefire is growing.
Israel is not trying to win friends in the Gaza Strip: it does want to weaken Hamas as an organisation. But every time Palestinian civilians die, Hamas gets a popularity boost. Israel says Hamas attacks its people and is therefore responsible for Palestinian civilian deaths when Israel retaliates, but no Palestinian will listen to that.
At times like this in Gaza, life and death are overshadowed by one reality: almost 70 years of conflict with Israel and no prospect of an end.
Israeli soldiers watching the World Cup Final in a cafe in Sderot
Rockets being launched from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday evening
Palestinians watch smoke billowing after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City
Some 800 Palestinians with dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing on Sunday
Smoke rises after a Hamas rocket attack on Israel
Palestinians crowd around a missile said to have been fired by Israel at a target in Rafah
An Israeli mother and daughter are treated for shock after a rocket attack on Ashkelon
A Palestinian boy whose father was killed weeps at his funeral in Gaza City
The Palestinian Authority's envoy in the UK, Manuel Hassassian, told BBC News there was nowhere for Gaza residents to hide.
"There are no shelters, no bunkers, no place to go, except their homes," he said. "If they leave their homes, they will be hit on the street."
Early on Sunday, Israeli air strikes destroyed most of the security headquarters and police stations run by Hamas Islamist militants.
Israel has been building up its troops along the border with northern Gaza, fuelling speculation of a possible ground invasion.
Some Israelis have been drawing peace messages on the street in Jerusalem
The Israeli military said it had dropped leaflets over northern Gaza warning of impending air strikes
Elderly Israeli women spent Saturday night in a bomb shelter in the southern city of Beersheba
Israeli tanks near the Gaza Strip
The city of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza has been one of Israel's main targets
Defending Israel's actions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
told US broadcaster CBS: "We're sorry for any accidental civilian deaths
but it's the Hamas that bears complete responsibility for such civilian
casualties."
The IDF says it has so far struck some 1,320 "terror" sites across Gaza, while Hamas has launched more than 800 rockets at Israel.
At least three Israelis have been seriously injured since the violence erupted, but no Israelis have been killed by the attacks.
A Palestinian health ministry spokesman has said 1,260 people have been injured in Gaza.
France on Sunday again condemned the Hamas rocket attacks, but also called on Israel to "show restraint" in its Gaza campaign and avoid civilian casualties.
Germany is sending Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Israel on Monday for talks with Israelis and Palestinians to help negotiate an end to the violence.
Rocket fire and air strikes increased after the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem.
Israel and militants in Gaza fought an eight-day war in November 2012, which ended with a truce.
Israel's Iron Dome missile shield
Thousands flee northern Gaza after Israeli warnings
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The BBC's Jeremy Bowen: "Almost 70 years of conflict... and no prospect it will end"
Thousands
of Palestinians are fleeing northern parts of Gaza after Israel warned
it was targeting the area in its campaign to stop rocket attacks.
The UN says 17,000 people have sought refuge in its facilities as Israeli air strikes continue for a sixth day.Israeli forces have raided a suspected rocket-launching site in Gaza in their first reported ground incursion.
At least 172 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's offensive began, according to health officials in Gaza.
The dead are said to include 17 members of one family who died in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday evening.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants and "terror sites", including the homes of senior operatives. However, the United Nations has estimated that 77% of the people killed in Gaza have been civilians.
The UN Security Council called for a ceasefire and peace talks on Saturday.
In the latest developments
- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke out against "importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" on to French soil after rioters tried to break into two synagogues in Paris following a rally against the Israeli air strikes in Gaza
- A mortar shell or rocket fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said
- A rocket fired from Gaza hit electricity infrastructure in Israel that supplied power to Gaza, cutting power to about 70,000 people, the Israeli military said
Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to achieve "sustainable quiet" for his people
Six days into this conflict there has not been a single Israeli death from a Hamas rocket.
Despite the growing number of civilian casualties in Gaza, in Israel more than 90% of Israelis support the air campaign. Israel's tanks stand ready to invade Gaza but there is no widespread support for a ground offensive. That, for now, may be all that is stopping this conflict from escalating.
Israel is not trying to win friends in the Gaza Strip: it does want to weaken Hamas as an organisation. But every time Palestinian civilians die, Hamas gets a popularity boost. Israel says Hamas attacks its people and is therefore responsible for Palestinian civilian deaths when Israel retaliates, but no Palestinian will listen to that.
At times like this in Gaza, life and death are overshadowed by one reality: almost 70 years of conflict with Israel and no prospect of an end.
Israeli soldiers watching the World Cup Final in a cafe in Sderot
Rockets being launched from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday evening
Palestinians watch smoke billowing after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City
Some 800 Palestinians with dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing on Sunday
Smoke rises after a Hamas rocket attack on Israel
Palestinians crowd around a missile said to have been fired by Israel at a target in Rafah
An Israeli mother and daughter are treated for shock after a rocket attack on Ashkelon
A Palestinian boy whose father was killed weeps at his funeral in Gaza City
Continue reading the main story
'Nowhere to go'
“Start Quote
Manuel Hassassian Palestinian Authority envoy in UKThere are no shelters, no bunkers, no place to go, except their homes”
The military confirmed it had dropped leaflets over the city of Beit Lahiya on Sunday morning telling civilians to seek shelter.
"We do not wish to harm civilians in Gaza, but these
civilians must know that remaining in close proximity to Hamas
terrorists and infrastructures is extremely unsafe," the IDF said.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli prime ministerWe're sorry for any accidental civilian deaths but it's the Hamas that bears complete responsibility for such civilian casualties”
UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said in a tweet that the agency had doubled its spaces for displaced people from 10,000 to 20,000.
Meanwhile, about 800 Palestinians holding dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing.The Palestinian Authority's envoy in the UK, Manuel Hassassian, told BBC News there was nowhere for Gaza residents to hide.
"There are no shelters, no bunkers, no place to go, except their homes," he said. "If they leave their homes, they will be hit on the street."
Early on Sunday, Israeli air strikes destroyed most of the security headquarters and police stations run by Hamas Islamist militants.
Israel has been building up its troops along the border with northern Gaza, fuelling speculation of a possible ground invasion.
Some Israelis have been drawing peace messages on the street in Jerusalem
The Israeli military said it had dropped leaflets over northern Gaza warning of impending air strikes
Elderly Israeli women spent Saturday night in a bomb shelter in the southern city of Beersheba
Israeli tanks near the Gaza Strip
The city of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza has been one of Israel's main targets
The IDF says it has so far struck some 1,320 "terror" sites across Gaza, while Hamas has launched more than 800 rockets at Israel.
At least three Israelis have been seriously injured since the violence erupted, but no Israelis have been killed by the attacks.
A Palestinian health ministry spokesman has said 1,260 people have been injured in Gaza.
France on Sunday again condemned the Hamas rocket attacks, but also called on Israel to "show restraint" in its Gaza campaign and avoid civilian casualties.
Germany is sending Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Israel on Monday for talks with Israelis and Palestinians to help negotiate an end to the violence.
Rocket fire and air strikes increased after the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem.
Israel and militants in Gaza fought an eight-day war in November 2012, which ended with a truce.
- Enemy fires missile or artillery shell
- Projectile tracked by radar, data relayed to battle-management-and-control unit
- Data analysed and target co-ordinates sent to the missile firing unit
- Missile is fired at enemy projectile
Mid-East crisis
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The conflict between Israel and Hamas may have to get worse before the pressure for a ceasefire becomes unanswerable, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Gaza.Not ready for ceasefire
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Means to an end
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Rockets and missiles
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Risks of invasion
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Vicious cycle
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Grief and anger
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Disappearing dream
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Unity scepticism
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