Israeli military strike on Gaza hospital kills 4, wounds 60

(Vatican Radio)  At least four people are dead and 60 wounded after Israeli tank shells hit a hospital Monday in the Gaza Strip as Israel pressed on with its land, sea and air assault on Hamas militants. Officials at the Al Aqsa hospital in the town of Deir el Balah say12 Israeli shells landed on the administration building, the intensive care unit and the surgery hall. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Separately, 24 members of the same family were killed when an Israeli airstrike demolished their home in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis and another strike near Rafah claimed 10 lives, half of them young children.

Some 530 Palestinians, 18 Israeli soldiers and 2 Israeli civilians have been killed in the fighting over the last two weeks.  Tens of thousands of Gazans have been displaced.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, says it killed 10 Hamas militants trying to infiltrate Israel via tunnels from Gaza.  Hamas fired fifty more rockets at Israel; no damage or injuries were reported.

Diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict are underway: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Cairo Monday to try to renew cease-fire efforts aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas fighting.  The U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to convene a special meeting next Wednesday to discuss the crisis.