Defiant Hamas
An undaunted Hamas, however, has vowed to fight back and defeat the Israeli forces. A spokesman for Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Israeli troops faced death or capture.
"The battle has just started and the enemy should endure the consequences and results. They should be ready for the bad news coming from the Gaza Strip," Abu Obeida, a spokesman, said.
Hamas said it had captured two Israeli soldiers but the Israeli army denied that.
While the UN secretary-general called for an immediate end to the operations, the Security Council failed to agree on a resolution calling for a ceasefire after an emergency meeting.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from the Shifa hospital in Gaza, said doctors were struggling to cope amid low supplies and the rising number of wounded.
She said the scene was chaotic, with doctors treating the injured on the floor.
In the Gaza Strip, heavy artillery, tracer fire and rockets could be heard while reports said Israeli troops had reached the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces have cut the territory in half and were ringing Gaza City itself.
Fierce fighting
Soldiers and fighters were also locked in gun battles east of the Hamas stronghold of Zeitoun.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Gaza City, said: "Perhaps the most significant military development on the ground is that Gaza has now actually been split into two.
"A column of Israeli tanks and artillery, and armoured personnel vehicles has made its way through from the eastern part of Gaza, reaching as far as the Mediterrannean sea on the Western part, essentially splitting Gaza.
"That area, mostly in the former settlement of Nitzerim, it was an open area after Israel withdrew the settlement, so they were able to make strong advances all the way across Gaza, essentially cutting off the northern part from the southern part."
Mohyeldin said that the scene in Gaza was one of "fear and terror".
Witnesses in eastern Gaza told Al Jazeera that soldiers have begun house to house operations, moving from building to building. They have also taken positions on top of many of the rooftops in that area.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from the Israeli side of the border, said the authorities there have been extremely tight-lipped about the operation.
However, the military has confirmed that at least 30 soldiers have been wounded in the fight so far, two of them seriously.
In initial clashes, Israeli ground forces killed eight Gazans, five of them fighters.
Four Palestinians were killed when a house was struck by an Israeli missile in Rafah, medics and residents said.
Humanitarian crisis
Israel, meanwhile, extended its naval blockade of Gaza early on Sunday, from six nautical miles to 20 nautical miles, preventing humanitarian aid and protest vessels from trying to break the siege.
It also captured the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV and has been broadcasting messages telling Hamas leaders to give themselves up.
Around 9,000 military reservists have been called up to assist in the ground assault.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, said that the operation was aimed at forcing Hamas "to stop its hostile activities against Israel and bring about significant change".
"The operation will be expanded and intensified as much as necessary," Barak said on Sunday. "War is not a picnic."
Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, told Al Jazeera 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.
Al Jazeera's Mohyeldin reported that power lines have been cut throughout the Gaza Strip and more than 250,000 people in the northern part of the territory were without electricity.
"The biggest concern is a ground invasion could result in urban warfare," he said.
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 fuel, food and medical supplies due to a two-year economic blockade imposed by Israel.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said on Sunday its medical emergency team had been prevented for a third day from entering the territory.
The UN has warned that there were "critical gaps" in aid reaching Gaza, despite claims from Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, that there was no crisis and that aid was getting through.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200914124615647308.html
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