Israel tightens grip on Gaza City; Hamas stays defiant

GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza City early Tuesday from two directions despite U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on both sides in the conflict to "just stop."

The rumble of artillery fire and airstrikes continued throughout the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory as Israeli troops and armor pushed into Gaza City from the northwest and northeast, approaching the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service.

The Israeli military reported clashes between its troops and Hamas fighters and said at least 30 Palestinian combatants were killed or wounded.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes and helicopter gunships struck 60 targets overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said.

"We are tightening the encirclement of the city," Brig. Eyal Eisenberg, commander of the Israeli offensive, told reporters brought in to Gaza to observe the deployment.

Israel launched its military operation in Gaza on December 27 to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel. At least 14 rockets were fired into Israel on Monday, causing no injuries, an Israeli ambulance services spokesman said.

For a sixth day, Israel halted the bombardment temporarily to allow civilians access to needed supplies. The IDF said it expected 100 trucks loaded with aid to be transferred to the territory through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Both Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since mid-2007, have ignored last week's U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a cease-fire. In an adamant message Monday directed at both sides, Ban demanded that they comply with the cease-fire call.

"My message is simple, direct and to the point -- the fighting must stop," the secretary-general told reporters in New York. "To both sides, I say, just stop now. Too many people have died.

"There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians -- live in daily fear of their lives, and in Gaza the very foundation of society is being destroyed."

Ban is scheduled to hold a series of meetings in the region starting Wednesday with nearly all the players in the conflict except Hamas. The group has been branded a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and European Union.

A senior Israeli official, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, said Sunday that the Security Council resolution "doesn't leave us much leeway" and that the end of the campaign may be near. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya remained defiant, however, declaring in a speech Monday that the bloodshed so far "will not be wasted for nothing."

Haniya said Hamas would deal with every peace initiative "responsibly, openly and positively," but told Palestinians, "We are closer to victory than ever."

More than 900 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them women and children, Palestinian medical sources said Monday. More than 4,000 others have been wounded.

Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the operation in Gaza and from rocket strikes on southern Israel. An Israeli officer was critically wounded while entering a booby-trapped house, the IDF reported, while two other soldiers suffered minor injuries.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch urged Israel to stop firing weapons containing white phosphorus, a powerful incendiary, in Gaza. The group said that while the use of white phosphorus to obscure military movements is "a permissible use in principle," the substance can burn people and start fires. iReport.com: Share your thoughts, reactions to crisis

The IDF last week denied white phosphorus shells were being used. But by Monday, Israeli officials said they would not specify what types of munitions were in use, adding that any shells fired in Gaza "are in accordance with international law."

source:CNN