Clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip continued Monday: Four soldiers suffered moderate wounds and three others were lightly hurt in gunfights in Strip. All seven were hospitalized.
According to Palestinian reports, the casualties in Gaza now number over 530. Gaza sources also reported that a mother and her three children were killed Monday, after a shell hit their Gaza City home.
Israel Navy ships targeted a rocket launcher hidden inside a bunker overnight. The IDF said that the Air Force and Navy actions have significantly diminished Hamas' fire on Ashkelon and northwards, but noted it could not stop it altogether.
Earlier Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that while "Hamas received a serious blow, we have not reached our goals yet, which is why the operation is still ongoing."
The ground incursion, he added, includes armor, gunnery, engineering aerial and naval forces, alongside special forces' units.
The Health Ministry said that 128 Israeli civilians were wounded since the beginning of the conflict: Four suffered serious injuries, 6 mediocre ones and 118 were lightly hurt. Some 661 people have suffered shock.