Israel Pumps New Troops And Tanks Into Gaza　　
　　Israel yesterday poured fresh troops and tanks into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, splitting the territory in half, as it pursued a massive ground offensive that defied mounting European and Arab calls for an immediate ceasefire.
　　The Israeli assault was accompanied by an intense bombardment from warplanes, helicopters, artillery and naval forces off the Gaza coast, and, according to local reports, it cut off the population centre around Gaza city from the southern strip.
　　The ground offensive claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinians, including several civilians, while one Israeli soldier was reported killed in the clashes.
　　In eight days of conflict, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Israel has lost five of its citizens, including two soldiers.
　　Hamas fighters appeared to offer only limited resistance to the Israeli assault yester- day, though one Hamas spokesmen warned that Gaza would become a “graveyard” for Israeli soldiers.
　　Gaza-based militants also fired a fresh barrage of rockets on nearby Israeli towns. The group yesterday also called on all Palestinian factions to unite to counter the Israeli “aggression”, saying it was ready to hold unconditional talks with the rival Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
　　Amid rising concern around the world over the suffering of civilians in the territory and fears that the hospitals of Gaza are close to collapse, the European Commission condemned Israel, saying it was “blocking access to people who are suffering and dying”, which it described as a breach of humanitarian law.
　　以色列昨日向哈馬斯(Hamas)控制的加沙地帶派出更多軍隊和坦克，將該地區一分為二。以色列不顧歐洲及阿拉伯地區日益高漲的立即停火呼吁，繼續對加沙地帶展開大規模地面進攻。
　　以色列地面攻勢伴隨著由戰機、直升機、炮兵部隊以及加沙附近海面海軍部隊的猛烈炮擊。據當地報道，以軍已經切斷了加沙城周圍居民中心與南部地帶的聯系。
　　地面進攻導致數十名巴勒斯坦人死亡，其中包括數名考試&大平民。同時據報道稱有一名以色列士兵在沖突中喪生。
　　在為期8天的沖突中，加沙地帶有超過500名巴勒斯坦人遇難。以色列公民有5人遇難，其中包括兩名士兵。
　　哈馬斯士兵昨天對以色列的攻擊似乎只進行了有限的抵抗，盡管一位哈馬斯發言人警告稱，加沙地帶將成為以色列士兵的“墓地”。
　　駐扎在加沙的哈巴斯武裝力量也向鄰近的以色列城鎮進行了新一輪火箭攻擊。該組織昨日還號召巴勒斯坦所有派別團結起來抵抗以色列的“侵略”，并表示已經準備好與巴勒斯坦總統馬哈茂德•阿巴斯(Mahmoud Abbas)領導的對抗力量法塔赫(Fatah)進行無條件對話。
　　世界各國對加沙地帶平民遭受的苦難日益表示關切，并擔心加沙的醫院瀕臨倒閉。歐盟委員會對以色列的行動予以了譴責，稱其“阻礙了對受難和垂死民眾的救助”，違反了國際人道主義法。
　　英國《金融時報》托拜厄斯•巴克(Tobias Buck)加沙邊境、佩吉•霍林格(Peggy Hollinger)巴黎、喬治•帕克(George Parker)倫敦報道。