Gaza toll soars as Israel pounds north

Thousands were fleeing northern Gaza Sunday after a night of fierce bombardment as Israel expanded a ground assault on day 13 of the deadliest violence in the enclave in five years.
      
As UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to arrive in the region to add his weight to truce efforts, the Palestinian death toll hit 370 although medics said it was set to soar after a night of intense attacks to the north and east of Gaza City.        

The Islamist Hamas movement, the main power in Gaza, has so far refused to yield in the face of the relentless air, sea and land attacks, continuing its own assaults which killed another two Israeli soldiers overnight, the army said.        

As the warring sides showed no sign of giving up, diplomatic efforts to seek a truce were to intensify Sunday with Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Qatar to discuss an Egyptian truce proposal.
      
On the ground, the streets of the northern district of Shejaiya were filled with thousands of civilians fleeing for their lives after heavy shelling left casualties lying in the streets, an AFP correspondent reported.
      
Ambulances were unable to reach much of the area along the border because of heavy fire, and emergency services told AFP there were reports of dead and wounded trapped by the bombardment.
      
At Shifa hospital, casualties were being brought in by the minute, some in ambulances, but others in cars and trucks.
      
Among them were screaming children with shrapnel wounds. One of them was clearly already dead, his head hanging lifelessly.        

Fights broke out in the emergency room as hysterical parents banged on the walls in...