Initial death toll includes 24 Palestinians and an Israeli. Hamas says Israel will "pay a high price" for the invasion. However, diplomatic sources note that the parties continue to meet, even if they deny it. Pope Francis expressed "serious concerns" over what is happening.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Twenty-four Palestinians and an Israeli have died in the first day of Israel's ground assault in Gaza. The latter began overnight with an artillery barrage, followed by tanks and ground troops.

"Last night our forces began a ground operation to hit the terror tunnels crossing from Gaza into Israel's territory," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that Israel is prepared to "significantly widen" its ground offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip because "It is not possible to deal with the tunnels only from the air."

Yesterday, the Israeli army had announced that it had stopped a dozen Palestinian fighters trying to infiltrate into southern Israel from Gaza through a tunnel to attack Kibbutz Sufa.

Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, said Israel will "pay a high price" for the invasion, which was decided, according to Netanyahu, after Israel had accepted the Egyptian proposal to end the conflict and the "humanitarian" ceasefire requested by the UN, whilst "In both of these opportunities Hamas continued to fire".

In Cairo, Egyptian authorities, which are involved in mediation efforts, slammed Israel's escalation and a renewed their call on the belligerents to accept the proposal for a truce.

Before the start of the ground operation, Egypt expressed strongly criticised Hamas, which, had it accepted the ceasefire proposal, could have saved dozens of lives.

According to the UN United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the discovery of rockets concealed in one of its Gaza schools is likely to endanger civilians.

Diplomatic sources said that the parties were still meeting, even though both sides denied the reports.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said there was no significant progress in the talks.

He also denied that any Hamas leader has gone to Cairo, claiming that Moussa Abu Marzouq, the senior member of the group that met with Egyptian mediators, has long been resident in Egypt.

Even Azzam al-Ahmad, a Fatah representative in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that there is no agreement.

In the previous negotiation, Hamas set that it would stop firing rockets at Israel if the latter lifted its blockade of Gaza and release its prisoners, which are politically difficult and unpopular both in Israel and in Egypt.

This morning Pope Francis personally telephoned President Shimon Peres and  President Mahmoud Abbas to share his very "serious concerns regarding the current situation of conflict involving in particular the Gaza Strip and which, in a climate of growing hostility, hatred and suffering for the two populations, is claiming many victims and giving rise to a serious humanitarian emergency."

The Holt Father, the Vatican Press Office said, assured the two leaders "his ceaseless prayer and that of all the Church for peace in the Holy Land."

He reminded them, whom he considers to be men of peace and seekers of peace, "of the need to continue to pray and endeavour to ensure that all the interested parties and those who hold political office at local and international level work to bring an end to hostilities, making efforts to promote a truce, peace and reconciliation in the hearts of those involved."

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• palestine
• gaza
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• invasion
• egypt
• ceasefire
• truce