Gaza Battles Take Heavy Death Toll

Israel pushed an expanded ground offensive into Gaza on Sunday, attacking what it said was a vast network of tunnels beneath a densely populated urban neighborhood but meeting heavy shelling from Hamas in battles that left 13 Israeli soldiers and dozens of Palestinians dead.

Officials in Gaza said at least 87 Palestinians were killed late Saturday and early Sunday, about 60 of them in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shajaiyeh where Israel launched the predawn assault on the tunnels.

The attack set off a panicked exodus of Palestinian civilians who rushed through the streets, some barefoot, past corpses.

Palestinians flee their homes in Gaza's eastern Shejaiya district on Sunday after heavy Israeli shelling that left casualties lying in the streets. Zuma Press/Majdi Fathi

Israeli armored vehicles are seen in the field in southern Israel near the border with Gaza on Saturday. Zuma Press

Israel has said the ground invasion launched Thursday night is aimed in part at destroying Hamas's rocket arsenal and a tunnel network that has been used to infiltrate Israel.