Frantic families in Gaza fled advancing Israeli troops by car and on foot on Sunday to the sound of booming explosions as infantry supported by overwhelming firepower from tanks, artillery and aircraft thrust farther and took control of the strip's main north-south arteries, effectively cutting it in half. Medics said at least 63 Palestinians – 31 of them civilians – have been killed by tank shells or missiles fired from warplanes since the ground offensive was launched on Saturday night. Israel said one soldier was killed by a mortar shell and about 30 were wounded. Columns of Israeli troops and tanks surrounded Gaza City Sunday night and fighting was reported in outer districts. Fierce clashes were also reported around the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya. Explosions and machine gun fire rocked the territory of 1.5 million people. Hamas fighters fired mortar rounds and detonated roadside bombs in front of the advancing troops, witnesses said. Moawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza medical emergency services, said the number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli operation was launched on Dec. 27 was now 512, including 87 children. Five members of the same family died when one tank shell hit their car near Gaza City, emergency services said. Three ambulance workers were killed when they were hit by a missile as they helped wounded victims of the conflict, medics said. Hamas said it captured two Israeli soldiers during fighting in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said it had no word on the capture of any of its soldiers. Aid groups said the offensive had aggravated a humanitarian crisis for the population, who have no electricity, no water and now face dire food shortages. Hospitals were only running on backup generators. Security Council ‘farce' International efforts to halt the conflict stalled after the UN Security Council failed to agree a statement on the conflict, with the United States giving strong backing to Israel. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum condemned the Security Council action as “a farce” dominated by the United States, which has strongly supported Israel. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a planned trip to China this week because of the Gaza crisis. A Russian presidential envoy and an EU ministerial delegation headed to the Middle East to make pleas for a ceasefire. President Nicolas Sarkozy was also to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to call off the offensive in telephone talks with Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a host of other foreign leaders, his office said. The Kremlin said that in the conversation, Medvedev “stressed the importance of reaching a ceasefire as quickly as possible.” Egypt summoned the ambassadors of the UN Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to protest at the delay in passing a ceasefire resolution. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel's ground attack which his office called a “terrifying aggression.” In Beirut, he leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, discussed the situation in Gaza with visiting chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Hezbollah possesses a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles that bloodied Israel during a monthlong war in 2006. Hezbollah has not threatened to join Hamas, but Nasrallah said last week that his men are on alert in case Israel attacks Lebanon. Protests Meanwhile, thousands of people protesting Israel's ground offensive converged Sunday in Beirut, Istanbul, Rabat and Amman. In Yemen, officials said protesters attacked several Jewish homes in the northern province of Omran, smashing windows and pelting them with rocks. Qatar said Sunday Israel's attack on Gaza amounted to a war crime and renewed calls for an emergency summit of Arab countries. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who runs the West Bank, denounced Israel's ground offensive as “brutal aggression” in his harshest words yet in describing Israel's assault on his Hamas rivals.
