Israel's army expanded its operations in the Gaza Strip Sunday, one day after bulldozers uncovered and demolished 34 shafts and about a dozen tunnels that officials say could have been used to carry out attacks, while Palestinian authorities reported intensified airstrikes as Israel's ground offensive deepened.
The Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah came under heavy tank fire before dawn Sunday, with Palestinian health officials claiming that eight people, including the son of a senior Hamas militant, were killed.
Throughout the night, loud explosions shook Gaza as Israeli flares lit up the night sky and fighter jets flew low over the densely populated territory.
The Hamas military wing said its fighters exchanged fire with Israeli forces in Shijaiyah and a nearby neighborhood. The sound of gunfire could be heard from the center of the city. In a separate confrontation, Islamic Jihad fighters ambushed Israeli troops near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the group said, adding that Israeli helicopter gunships had joined the battle.
An Israeli military spokeswoman told Sky News that "Two days ago, residents of Shijaiyah received recorded messages to evacuate the area in order to protect their lives." The Israeli military has singled out the neighborhood as one of the major sites from which Hamas has launched rockets targeting Israeli cities and towns.
Meanwhile The Jerusalem Post reported that two Israeli soldiers were killed in a firefight with a 13-man Hamas squad that entered Israel via a cross-border tunnel from Gaza Saturday morning. At least one Palestinian was killed in the clash.
The deaths of the two soldiers bring the Israeli military death toll to five in the three days since ground operations began. Two Israeli civilians have also perished from Hamas rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli territory.
The Hamas soldiers were dressed in Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) uniforms, and were armed with automatic weapons, RPGs, syringes, sedatives and handcuffs, The Jerusalem Post reported. The IDF believed they planned to kidnap an Israeli and go on a killing spree in a community.
Shimon Daniel, a retired brigadier general and former head of the Israeli military's engineer corps, told The Associated Press the military knew that Hamas had a large number of tunnels designed to assault Israel.
"I think finding 13 tunnels in such a short time is a great achievement," he told Channel 10 TV.
Daniel said demolishing the tunnels is dangerous. Troops must assume the passages are booby trapped. Soldiers first close off the area and check for additional openings. Then robots go inside to look around, he said.
After that, the tunnels are destroyed either by special explosives or by heavy equipment. He said it can take up to 12 hours to destroy each tunnel.
"These tunnels aren't for hiding. They are intended for large attacks in Israeli communities and army bases," chief military spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said.
Footage released by the Israeli military showed tunnels being demolished by army excavators and other equipment on the ground and by airstrikes from above.
Since the start of Israel-Hamas fighting almost two weeks ago, 378 Palestinians have been killed and 2,700 wounded, according to Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra. One-fourth of the deaths have been reported since the start of the ground offensive late Thursday.
Health officials claimed that at least 30 people were killed in the bombardment of Gaza's Shijaiyah neighborhood Sunday, and five more bodies were believed to be buried under the rubble of homes.
Israel says it is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and blames them on Hamas, accusing it of firing from within residential neighborhoods and using civilians as "human shields."
The military said it has hit more than 2,500 targets in Gaza, including 1,100 rocket launchers, during the 13 days of fighting. It said that some 70 militants were killed and another 13 brought to Israel for questioning.
Gaza militants have fired more than 1,760 rockets at Israeli cities since July 8, the military said.
The military said also it had received intelligence reports that Palestinians had strapped explosives to animals and intended to send them toward soldiers. A donkey laden with explosives approached soldiers later on and blew up causing no injuries, it said.
An Egyptian truce proposal was rejected by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and has demanded the lifting of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade as part of any cease-fire agreement.
Israel's ground attack came after it became increasingly exasperated with rocket fire from Gaza, especially after Hamas rejected an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on Saturday repeated a call for the two sides to adopt the cease-fire, saying it is the only offer on the table, despite efforts from Hamas backers Turkey and Qatar to broker a deal.
"This initiative still presents the chance for the two sides to cease fire, ending the bloodshed," he said. "It meets the needs of both sides. We will continue to propose it. We hope both sides accept it."
In a fresh effort to broker a truce, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Qatar Sunday to help mediate the Gaza conflict. A cease-fire is "indispensable" for urgently needed humanitarian efforts to succeed, the undersecretary-general for political affairs Jeffrey Feltman told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Friday.
Israeli officials have said the offensive could last up to two weeks or possibly longer.
Hamas has survived Israeli offensives in the past, including a major three-week ground operation in January 2009 and another weeklong air offensive in 2012. It now controls an arsenal of thousands of rockets, including long-range projectiles, and has built a system of underground bunkers.
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