Gazans flee homes as Israel mounts ground attack

JERUSALEM, July 13 (Agencies): Israeli forces dropped leaflets in northern Gaza Sunday to warn residents to move away from Hamas sites to avoid airstrikes.
The warning came as the death toll in Gaza reached 168, with more than 1,100 people injured, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
About 70 per cent of the fatalities were civilians, of which 30 per cent -- 27 people -- were children, said
Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which said the figures came from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Israel said its forces have struck 1,320 "terror targets" across Gaza, including 735 concealed rocket launchers.
Israel has used its Iron Dome defense system against many of the more than 800 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, the military said. Two more were intercepted Sunday over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Israel toughened its campaign against Gaza Sunday, warning Palestinians in the north to flee after marines mounted a ground attack, and diplomatic efforts to halt the bloodshed intensified.
As world powers prepared to meet over the spiralling bloodshed, the Palestinian death toll from a punishing Israeli air campaign hit 166, following the bloodiest day yet in which 56 people were killed.
Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was no end in sight, with the military warning residents of northern Gaza to flee by 0900 GMT.
"We are hitting Hamas with growing force," Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting.
"We do not know when this operation will end."
So far, no Israelis have been killed, although militants in Gaza have pounded the south and centre of the country with more than 630 rockets since the fighting began on July 8 in the biggest confrontation in and around the enclave since 2012.
Overnight, Israeli naval commandos raided the northern Gaza Strip on a mission to destroy longer-range rockets which have sent thousands fleeing for cover in cities as far away as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Hadera in the north.
Radio reports spoke of a fierce gun battle with Hamas militants in the Sudaniya district.
Shortly afterwards, the army said it had warned residents of the north to "immediately" leave their homes ahead of a major assault which would focus on the town of Beit Lahiya.
Even before the warning, thousands could be seen fleeing for their lives, by car, foot and horse-drawn cart, an AFP correspondent reported.
"It was the middle of the night, and I gathered the children, they were so afraid," said Samari al-Atar, breaking down in tears as she described how her family had left everything and fled barefoot with shooting all around.
Many sought refuge in schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
"UNRWA now has eight schools sheltering about 4,000 displaced Gazans," the agency's head of operations Robert Turner told reporters.
"More are arriving by the minute. They are mostly fleeing areas in the north," he said. A spokesman said UNRWA facilities had the capacity to shelter some 35,000 people.
So far neither side has shown any interest in talk of a ceasefire, with top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the United States due to discuss truce efforts in Vienna later on Sunday.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for "an immediate ceasefire" to avoid any further escalation, and Pope Francis made an appeal for both prayer and diplomacy to halt the bloodshed in and around Gaza.
"I urge all interested parties and all in local and international political office not to spare in prayer and efforts to cease all hostilities," he said.
The German and Italian foreign ministers were both poised to head to the region to join truce efforts, their offices said.
As the fighting showed no sign of let-up, thousands rallied across Asia to denounce the Israeli offensive and show support for Palestinians.
Around 3,000 gathered in Sydney while hundreds more gathered in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Jakarta holding up banners condemning Israel and in support of the Palestinians.