Tel Aviv/Gaza  - Israeli troops pushed further into the Gaza Strip Sunday morning, battling Palestinian militants in the north of the salient as they advanced on Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, supported by air attacks.

An Israeli military spokesman said 30 soldiers were wounded in overnight fighting, including two seriously. Israel also says it has killed "dozens" of Palestinian militants, but this figure could not be independently confirmed.

The spokesman dismissed as a "complete lie" militants' claims that they killed nine Israeli soldiers and a senior Israeli military official said reports that an Israeli soldier had been captured by the militants was "untrue."

Washington, Jan 4 : Israeli ground forces moved across the border into the northern Gaza Strip killing 30 Hamas militants during the operation, after week-long airstrikes claimed more than 450 Pale

Tel Aviv/Gaza  - The first several hours of Israel's long- expected ground invasion saw fierce fighting as tanks arrived early Sunday at Gaza City and troops advanced to Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

Launched late Saturday, Israeli infantry and armour, backed by air support, moved into the north of the territory after an artillery barrage lasting hours. Early casualty reports were sketchy.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council was meeting late Saturday at UN headquarters in New York to discuss the Mideast conflict, hours after Israeli troops launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.

The hastily arranged meeting, called by Arab countries, was held behind closed doors.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority's envoy to the UN, demanded that the Security Council compel Israel to begin an immediate ceasefire and to withdraw ground forces to previous positions outside the territory.

Washington  - The US State Department is seeking a ceasefire in the current Mideast conflict in the Gaza Strip that eases the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians while preventing rocket fire at Israel, spokesman Sean McCormack said late Saturday.

He blamed the conflict on the Islamic militant movement Hamas, which controls the territory, while pointing out that Washington has urged Israel to prevent civilian casualties as it moves forward with a ground offensive launched Saturday.

Paris  - The French government late Saturday sharply criticized Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, saying it "complicated" peace efforts.

"France condemns Israel's ground offensive against Gaza just as it condemns the continued rocket attacks" by Hamas against Israel, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ground attack "complicates efforts undertaken by the international community, especially the European Union and France, the members of the (Mideast) Quartet and the countries in the region to end the conflict (and) provide immediate aid to civilians," the statement read.