Israeli forces backed by air strikes fought to seize ground from Hamas deep inside the Gaza Strip on Monday in a conflict that has killed more than 540 Palestinians in 10 days.
In all 29 Palestinian civilians were killed on Monday, medical officials said. Among Monday's victims were 13 members of a Palestinian family killed in an Israeli strike on their home in a refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli army said dozens of Hamas fighters had been killed since ground troops invaded on Saturday. It added that scores of Hamas activists were captured.
On their part, Hamas leaders vowed to fight the invading forces. Thousands of fighters were waiting "in every street, every alley and at every house" to tackle them, Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a broadcast speech. Hamas would increase its rocket strikes on Israel if the Israeli attacks on Gaza continued, Ubaida said.
In Ramallah in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank, French President Sarkozy called for a ceasefire as soon as possible and said that "time is running against peace". "The guns must fall silent, there must be a humanitarian truce," the French leader said, according to Reuters.
U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking in Washington, blamed Hamas for provoking the bloodshed and said any ceasefire must include provisions to stop its rocket attacks. "Instead of caring about the people of Gaza, Hamas decided to use Gaza to use rockets to kill innocent Israelis," he said.
