The Palestinian death toll has hit 555, after another 50 people including 12 kids were killed in the latest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, reported Press TV .
At least 2,700 people have also been wounded since Israeli Operation Cast Lead launched against the coastal region on December 27, Muawiya Hassanein, the head of the territory's emergency services told AFP Monday.
The casualties are expected to rise dramatically as the Israeli army has engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hamas resistance fighters in Gaza City.
The fighting has broken out for the first time since the Israeli military crossed over the border late Saturday after a week-long aerial and naval onslaught on the costal sliver.
Earlier in the day, the Army said its forces are gearing up for battles in heavily populated urban areas in the strip.
"This is what the troops have trained for and are designated to do -- to fight in densely-populated areas," The Jerusalem Post quoted an unnamed senior officer as saying.
Despite international calls for an immediate halt to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, Tel Aviv reiterated that the ground incursion would be continued until the objectives are reached.
