Israeli ground troops enter Gaza

Israeli jets also continued to pound Gaza for an eighth day [AFP] Thousands of Israeli troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, have entered the Gaza Strip as Israel escalated its offensive into the territory on the eighth day of operations. Tanks entered the besieged territory through several points mainly in northern Gaza, crossing shortly after nightfall on Saturday, officials said, while the Israeli cabinet said it had also called up about 9,000 reservists. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher on the Israeli-Gaza border said heavy artillery fire, tracer fire and rockets could be heard in the area as Israeli forces moved in, along with some gunfire. Reports showed that Israeli troops had reached the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza in the early hours of Sunday morning. Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said that the scene in Gaza on Saturday was one of "fear and terror" as Israeli tanks moved in. He also said that there were reports of heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in areas such as Zaytoun, near Gaza City, as several loud explosions rocked the territory. As the offensive entered its eighth day, Palestinian medical sources said 464 Palestinians had died and more than 2,000 had been injured. Four Israelis have been killed in rocket fire into southern Israel in the past week. Israel's naval blockade of Gaza was also extended early on Sunday morning from six nautical miles to 20 nautical miles, preventing humanitarian aid and protest vessels from trying to break the siege. Diplomatic moves The news comes as the United Nations Security Council is meeting on Saturday evening to discuss the crisis, with a UN spokesman saying that Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, was "deeply concerned" by the latest events. The UN said in a statement that Ban had spoken to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment". Libya, the only Arab nation currently on the security council, is expected to urge the council to issue a statement on the offensive expressing "serious concern", however Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey at the UN said many ambassadors had expressed doubts this would happen. On Saturday France condemned the ground offensive, with the foreign ministry saying in a statement that the "dangerous military escalation" complicated efforts to end the fighting, bring aid to civilians and reach a permanent ceasefire. The US state department said that a Gaza ceasefire should take place as soon as possible and that it had told the Israeli government that any military action should be "mindful of the potential consequences to civilians". It also condemned Hamas, saying it was holding the people of Gaza "hostage" and contributed to a "very bad daily life" for the coastal territory's residents. White House also officials said that George Bush, the US president, had been briefed on the situation in Gaza and that US officials had been in contact with officials from countries "in the region" and in Europe. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and several Arab foreign ministers were also flying to New York over the weekend to urge the Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and urge a halt to the Gaza offensive. 'Hostile activities' At least 11 people died in a raid which hit a mosque in Gaza [AFP] The ground offensive also followed the latest air raids in Gaza on Saturday when an Israeli strike on a northern Gaza town killed at least 11 people, including one child, who were praying in a mosque. There has been no official confirmation from either side of casualties from Saturday's ground invasion so far, although Zeina Awad, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said Israeli media was reporting that several Hamas fighters had been killed at the start of the ground offensive. The Reuters news agency also said a senior Hamas official had said that its fighters had killed a number of Israeli soldiers, but neither report could be confirmed. Hamas warnings The Israeli defence minister said Israel had weighed all options before the raids [AFP] Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said on Saturday that the operation was aimed at forcing Hamas "to stop its hostile activities against Israel and bring about significant change". "We have carefully weighed all our options, we are not war hungry but we should not allow a situation where our towns are constantly targeted by Hamas," he said. Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, later told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the "single aim" of the offensive was to halt Hamas rocket attacks into Israeli territory. "Ultimately Hamas is solely responsible for this crisis and today they are paying a price for that," he said. Hamas has vowed to defeat the Israeli army following the invasion, with Osama Hamdan, a senior official for Hamas in Beirut, Lebanon, telling Al Jazeera that "military operations will not win for the Israelis". On Friday, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, warned that any Israeli ground offensive would lead to a "black destiny". Reservists mobilised Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin said that power lines have been cut throughout the strip and more than 250,000 people in northern Gaza are without electricity. "The biggest concern is a ground invasion could result in urban warfare," he said. "Rockets are being fired from deeper and deeper within Gaza and if Israel's intention is to prevent such attacks how far into Gaza, an area densely populated with civilians, will they need to go?" Fears of a humanitarian crisis have also grown in recent days, as the strip, home to 1.5 million people, is already suffering shortages of power, food and medical supplies due to a two-year blockade imposed by Israel on the area. The International Committee for the Red Cross also said on Saturday its medical emergency team had been prevented for a second day from entering the territory. The UN has warned that there were "critical gaps" in aid reaching Gaza, although Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, said there was no crisis and that aid was getting through. It said it estimated that about 25 per cent of those Palestinians killed since the Israeli offensive began eight days ago were civilians. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies