He was a member of Battalion 931 of the Nahal Brigade, one of the IDF’s five major infantry formations

Israel lost its first soldier during the offensive after Sgt. Eitan Barak, 20, was killed behind enemy lines

over 300 Palestinians since start of the fighting

Israeli aircraft have struck more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and

Israel's U.N. Ambassador denies 'untrue' claims, insisting they are just rumours and no kidnapping has taken place

But Hamas fighters claim to have captured an Israeli soldier during fighting in the Gaza Strip

Israeli military says 13 soldiers have been killed in fighting with Hamas militants

The number of dead are said to include the son, daughter-in-law and two small grandchildren of senior Hamas leader


Grinning Israeli tank commanders have been pictured flashing the victory signs as they blast their way through Gaza in the bloodiest day of the offensive so far - as one resident of the troubled region said: 'The gate of hell has opened.'

At least 65 people have been killed since this morning's dawn strike on Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighbourhood - including the son, daughter-in-law and two small grandchildren of a senior Hamas leader.

Hamas says it has captured an Israeli soldier - a scenario that has proven to be fraught with difficulties for the country in the past - but Israel's U.N. Ambassador has denied the claims.

The neighbourhood has come under heavy tank fire as Israel widened its ground offensive against Hamas, causing hundreds of residents to flee.

The dead and wounded - including dozens of women and children - have reportedly been left in streets, with ambulances unable to approach.

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Victim: The coffin of killed Israeli soldier Amotz Greenberg at his funeral in the cemetery of Hod Hasharon in Israel

Toll: Israel announced it has lost 13 soldiers, including officers, in the past 48 hours of the incursion into the Gaza Strip to locate and clear Hamas tunnels

Grief: Israeli soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade mourn over the grave of Sgt. Bnaya Rubel during his funeral

A family member of Rubel mourns over his grave. Rubel was killed in a fighting with Palestinian militants in Gaza on Saturday

Early this morning, the wounded from Shijaiyah were rushed to Gaza City's central Shifa Hospital. Frantic parents carried children wounded by shrapnel and the emergency room quickly overflowed, forcing doctors to treat some patients on mattresses in a hallway.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday the group had captured an Israeli soldier during fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking on a Hamas television station, the masked spokesman, Abu Ubaida, said: 'We have captured a Zionist soldier and the occupation has not admitted that.'

The claims raised the spectre of Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas in 2006 and only released in exchange for 1,027 prisoners - many convicted of terror offences - in 2011.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor later insisted there was no kidnapped Israeli soldier and dismissed Hamas's televised announcement.

'There's no kidnapped Israeli soldier and those rumours are untrue,' Prosor told reporters at the United Nations as the Security Council held an emergency meeting on the escalating crisis between Israel and Palestinians.

Several diplomats are tweeting about the meeting. French Ambassador Gerard Araud tweeted that the meeting is being held at the request of council member Jordan. The U.N. spokesman's office says it cannot confirm the meeting.

Israeli soldiers flash the victory sign on their armoured personnel carrier (APC) at an army deployment near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip

An injured Palestinian child is brought to al-Najar hospital following the Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. The casualties have mounted during the Israeli attacks on Gaza Frantic parents carried children wounded by shrapnel and the emergency room quickly overflowed, forcing doctors to treat some patients on mattresses in a hallway

A Palestinian boy, who medics said was wounded by Israeli shelling, receives treatment at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shelling in a Gaza neighbourhood, where bodies were strewn in the street and thousands fled toward the hospital packed with wounded civilians The mass casualties in the Shejaia district in northeast Gaza appeared to be the heaviest since Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory on July 8 An injured Palestinian family cram into a car as they arrive at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Early this morning, the wounded from Shijaiyah were rushed to Gaza City's central Shifa Hospital

A Palestinian woman wearing clothes stained with the blood of other relatives, who medics said were wounded in Israeli shelling, cries at a hospital in Gaza City

A Palestinian carries a wounded girl in the emergency room of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip Israel says it is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and blames them on Hamas, accusing it of firing from within residential neighborhoods and using civilians as 'human shields'

A Palestinian woman, who fled her house following an Israeli ground offensive, stays at a United Nations-run school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling in a Gaza neighbourhood, witnesses and health officials said

Palestinians look at the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in what appeared to be the heaviest since Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory on July 8

Throughout the night, loud explosions shook Gaza as Israeli flares lit up the night sky and fighter jets flew low over the densely populated territory.

Today's battle was the deadliest so far in Israel's three-day-old ground offensive, which followed 10 days of heavy airstrikes on targets linked to Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The mass casualties in the district in northeast Gaza appeared to be the heaviest since Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory on July 8 after cross-border rocket strikes by militants intensified.

The Hamas military wing said its fighters exchanged fire with Israeli forces in Shijaiyah and a nearby neighborhood. The sound of gunfire could be heard from the centre of the city.

One resident, Jawad Hassanain, said Israeli tanks entered the community after midnight and fired heavily. He said: ‘The gate of hell has opened, and shrapnel came through the windows. All you could hear is heavy bombardment, the smell of fire and the smell of death.’

The donkey 'suicide bomber'

Israeli soldiers uncovered 34 shafts leading into about a dozen underground tunnels, some as deep as 30 meters, that could be used to carry out attacks, the military said.

Still, Palestinian gunmen disguised in Israeli uniforms managed to infiltrate Israel from Gaza using another tunnel and today killed two Israeli soldiers and injured several others, the military said. At least one Palestinian was killed in the clash.

Hamas said 12 of its fighters participated in the attack and that the group took some of the soldiers' weapons back to their hideouts.

In two other confrontations, Palestinian gunmen jumped out of tunnels and shot at soldiers who returned fire. Two of the gunmen were killed. Another militant died when the explosive vest he was wearing went off, the military said.

In one instance, the militants were found with tranquilizers and handcuffs, indicating they 'intended to abduct Israelis,' according to the military.

He urged the council to adopt a resolution condemning 'the Israeli aggression' against civilians in Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire, the lifting of the Israeli 'blockade' on the Gaza Strip, and the protection of the Palestinian people.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also calls for 'all necessary measures to ensure the protection of civilians, including the immediate cessation of military reprisals, collective punishment and excessive use of force against the Palestinian civilian population'.

It stresses the immediate need for humanitarian aid for the Palestinians and calls for urgent efforts to reach a peace agreement based on a two-state solution. It does not mention Hamas.

Such a resolution would face a difficult time winning approval from the United States, a veto-wielding council member.

The Israeli campaign, Mr Mansour said, is aimed at destroying 'Palestinian unity and collapse of the national consensus government'. Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Mr Abbas' moderate Fatah party recently formed a unity government.