On Monday, Israel launched airstrikes against hundreds of sites in Gaza, while its soldiers engaged in combat with Hamas terrorists during incursions into the embattled Palestinian enclave, where the death toll is rising and residents are trapped in appalling conditions.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, 436 individuals have died as a result of bombardment in the last 24 hours, the most of them in the region south of the small, heavily populated area.

Over the course of a day, the Israeli military claimed to have hit over 320 targets in Gaza, including locations for mortar and anti-tank missile launchers, dozens of command and lookout stations, and a tunnel used by Hamas fighters.

The 2.3 million residents of the area were in dire need of basic supplies, and European leaders appeared certain to join the Arab and UN in demanding a “humanitarian pause” in hostilities so that relief could be delivered.

Israeli troops and tanks are massed on the Israeli-Gaza border. How soon they may launch a much-publicised invasion aimed at eliminating Hamas is unclear.

The conflict is escalating beyond Gaza.

Israeli aircraft also hit positions in south Lebanon held by Hezbollah, which, like Hamas, is a group allied to Israel’s long-time foe Iran.

The Israeli army and Palestinians also clashed in the occupied West Bank. And Hamas fired more rockets into Israel.