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Paul Adams reports on Israel's ground offensive on Gaza
Israel is prepared to "significantly widen" its ground offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
He said the military was targeting the Hamas tunnel network, which it could not do "only from the air".
Thousands of troops moved into parts of Gaza on Thursday night, backed by tanks and artillery fire.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, has said Israel will "pay a high price" for the invasion.
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Gaza City says Israeli aircraft and artillery have intensified strikes in the north, east and south of Gaza.
At least 24 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since the ground offensive began on Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said.
The dead included three Palestinian children killed by Israeli tank fire in the north of Gaza, medics added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say they struck more than 100 targets in Gaza overnight that included 20 missile launchers and nine tunnels.
The decision to send in troops came after 10 days of intensive rocket fire from militants in Gaza and air strikes by Israel.
"Last night our forces began a ground operation to hit the terror tunnels crossing from Gaza into Israel's territory," Mr Netanyahu told a special cabinet session broadcast live on television on Friday.
"It is not possible to deal with the tunnels only from the air."
He added: "My instructions... are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly."
Mr Netanyahu said the operation came after Israel had agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and to Thursday's five-hour UN humanitarian ceasefire.
"In both of these opportunities Hamas continued to fire," he said.
Palestinian militants have used tunnels to carry out attacks, some of which have been thwarted by the Israeli military.
On the morning of the ground offensive, the Israeli military intercepted 13 militants who had infiltrated Israel through a tunnel, and were believed to be planning to attack a nearby kibbutz.
Some 267 Palestinians - three-quarters of them civilians - have died since the start of the wider Israeli operation on 8 July, officials in Gaza say.
One Israeli civilian has been killed by mortar fire and several Israelis have been seriously injured, Israeli medics say.
Continue reading the main storyMeanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party recently agreed to a unity government with Hamas, has been holding talks in Cairo amid efforts to negotiate a truce.
On Friday he met leaders of Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant faction in Gaza, and said he found "a kind of acceptance" of the peace initiative.
Call for restraintFrench Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is travelling to Egypt, Jordan and Israel as part of a diplomatic push to stop the fighting.
In a statement he said he wanted a lasting truce "that responds to Israel's security needs and Palestinian economic needs".
He also urged Israel to show restraint.
On Thursday, Israel approved the drafting of 18,000 more reservists, bringing the number of extra troops called up since 8 July to 65,000.
Israel says it has carried out more than 1,960 attacks on Gaza since 8 July, while militants have fired some 1,380 rockets at Israel. It says more than 50 rockets have been fired at Israel since the ground operation began.
The UN says at least 1,370 homes have been destroyed in Gaza and more than 18,000 people displaced in recent hostilities.
Are you in Gaza? Are you or is someone you know affected by the situation? Email your comments to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Gaza'.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
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