Israel further intensified its attacks on Gaza Sunday, warning its war on Hamas would be "long and difficult", as calls mounted to end the violence and the Red Cross warned of "intolerable" suffering.
The United Nations said thousands more civilians could die in Gaza as Israel announced the war had entered a "second stage", with ground forces still operating inside the Hamas-run territory more than 24 hours after entering it on Friday.
Israel unleashed a massive bombing campaign and since then, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 8,000 people, half of them children.
Communications were meanwhile gradually being restored in Gaza on Sunday after a more than 24-hour blackout. Thousands of buildings have been flattened in the overcrowded territory of 2.4 million people, with more than half the population displaced as Israel imposed a near-total siege.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, voiced shock Saturday at the "intolerable level of human suffering", urging all sides to de-escalate the conflict. "This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate."
But despite frantic appeals for an end to the violence, Israel says it is intensifying its ground operations while continuing to pummel Gaza from the sky.
Hamas authorities reported Sunday that a large number of people were killed overnight in strikes on two refugee camps in northern Gaza.
"This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear: destroying the military and leadership capabilities of Hamas, and bringing the hostages back home," Netanyahu told journalists.
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