Israeli Forces Close in on Gaza City

Israeli tanks fought their way into the suburbs of Gaza City for the first time today after a night of intense bombing.

Heavy fighting was reported in Tel al-Hawa, in the south of the city, where tanks and attack helicopters could be heard under waves of heavy air strikes and artillery bombardments. Several buildings were on fire, and clouds of thick black smoke hung over the city. Residents said they had endured one of the heaviest nights of bombing yet in Israel's 18-day offensive.

Palestinian health officials said they had received dozens of calls for ambulances to the south of the city, but it was too dangerous to send them. A number of Israeli soldiers were reportedly injured overnight - three were mistakenly hit by their own troops.

The death toll on the Palestinian side now stands at 910, among them 292 children and 75 women, according to the Palestinian health ministry. More than 4,250 have been injured, of whom around a half are women and children. On the Israeli side 13 people have died, including three civilians.

More and more Gazans were fleeing their homes to seek shelter wherever they could. At least 28,000 are now holed up in UN schools operating as emergency shelters - more than 2,000 of them fled on Sunday alone, in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, to the south. Thousands more are staying with relatives or friends.

The UN said there were shortages of several basic foods, including food for infants and malnourished children, and there were increasing risks of epidemic outbreaks, because of disrupted vaccinations, uncollected rubbish on the street and unsafe drinking water.

Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader and the former Palestinian prime minister, gave a late-night speech on Hamas Television, saying his movement was pursuing a diplomatic end to the fighting, and insisting on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the opening of crossings which have been closed for months.

Haniyeh said Hamas would "deal positively with any initiative that can end the aggression and allow the withdrawal of the occupation troops, and end the siege so that we can stop the bloodshed". But he said the group would also continue "our resistance against this occupation until it leaves our lands".

However, diplomacy to end the conflict has faltered and some senior Israelis, among them the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and some of his top generals, are keen to escalate the fight and to send troops into the heart of Gaza's major cities.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, was due to leave today for the Middle East for talks in several countries to end the fighting. "My message is simple, direct, and to the point: the fighting must stop. To both sides, I say: Just stop now," Ban said. "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."

Yesterday, Olmert warned a refusal by Hamas to stop its rocket fire into southern Israel would be met "with the Israeli people's iron fist".

"We will continue to strike with full strength, with full force until there is quiet and rearmament stops," he said. But Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel - at least 18 hit on Monday, although there were no injuries. More rockets were fired early today.

Israel has banned all reporters from entering Gaza to report on the conflict, but yesterday it allowed a Reuters journalist to briefly embed with the Israeli military and release his report, after it had been passed by a military censor. "We are tightening the encirclement of the city," said Brigadier Eyal Eisenberg, a commander of the offensive. "We are not static. We are careful to be constantly on the move."

Another officer, named only as Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda, spoke in optimistic terms about the fight. "I think Hamas has already folded," he said. A tank commander, named only as Lieutenant Colonel Erez, said his forces had encountered anti-armor weaponry. "We have responded pre-emptively and forcefully," he said. "We also hit anyone seen trying to observe our movements."