Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically ruled out a ceasefire in war as ground forces pushed into Gaza and freed one hostage.
"This will not happen," the premier told foreign media, vowing Israel would "fight until this battle is won".
Israel has carried out a huge aerial bombing campaign in Gaza, while inside the territory, a long-expected ground war was underway. The military has released images of Israeli mechanized infantry grinding through the coastal sands of northern Gaza, while witnesses on Monday reported tanks on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Netanyahu has vowed the war will "eliminate" Hamas, ensuring no possible repeat of the group's attacks.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for a humanitarian truce in the violence, which the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them children.
On Monday, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees UNRWA said the limited number of aid trucks entering the besieged territory were insufficient to meet the "unprecedented humanitarian needs" there. "Nearly 70 percent of those reported killed are children and women," said Philippe Lazzarini, who heads UNRWA.
"This cannot be 'collateral damage.'" Rizk Abu Rok, a 24-year-old paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, told AFP that transporting those killed and wounded had become a daily routine.
But a recent strike on the Rio Cafe in Khan Yunis added his father and several other relatives to the growing toll. "I found them all, one after the other," he said.
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