First night of I$raHell ground operations kills 27 Palestinians; Ambulances come under fire attempting to retrieve the injured

An Israeli missile hits Palestinian buildings in Gaza City on July 17. (Photo: Thomas Coex / Getty Images)

Israel’s ground invasion began last night at 10 pm with extensive blasts in the north of Gaza causing thousands to flee south. Since then, at least 27 Palestinians have been killed, bringing the total Palestinian casualties since “Operation Protective Edge” began ten days ago to 267 deaths and over 2,000 injuries.

Those civilian casualties included three children aged four to 12 who were killed in their beds while sleeping last night. Peter Beaumont of the Guardianreported, “What I am most struck today is that the casualties I am seeing are largely children.”