Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Yolande Knell reports from Gaza City as residents flock to banks and shops during a temporary ceasefire 
 
 Israel's foreign minister and Hamas have denied earlier reports of a truce deal to end fighting in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants. 
 
 Avigdor Lieberman said the reports were "as of now incorrect", and Hamas, which controls Gaza, said talks in Egypt were ongoing. 
 
 An Israeli official earlier told the BBC the truce was to take effect on Friday at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT). 
 
 Some 227 Palestinians and one Israeli have died in nine days of conflict. 
 
 Israel launched its Operation Protective Edge with the stated objective of halting Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. 
 
 However, the United Nations says most of those killed in Gaza have been civilians. 
 
 Israel accuses Hamas of hiding its military infrastructure within the civilian population. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry says efforts will continue to try to broker a ceasefire 
 
 On Thursday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees said it had found 20 rockets hidden in one of its vacant schools in Gaza and "strongly condemned" whichever group had placed them there. 
 
 A five-hour humanitarian ceasefire took place on Thursday but hostilities quickly resumed after it ended. 
 
 'Intensive talks' 
 
 Egypt has been mediating in negotiations between Israel and Hamas. 
 
 Earlier reports said a new truce deal had been agreed by Israeli negotiators but that it had not yet been approved by the Israeli cabinet. 
 
 Analysis: BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem 
 
 In an off-the-record briefing in some of Thursday morning's overseas newspapers a senior Israeli military official is quoted as describing the likelihood of an Israeli ground operation in Gaza as "very high". The military logic is clear, as it always has been. 
 
 Israel's air force is steadily working its way down a long target list. But there are other targets that could only be reached by ground forces - better-concealed long-range rockets are one example. 
 
 Ground operations could mean anything from raids by units of Israel's Special Forces to an all-out invasion and occupation. That would mean Israeli casualties too - perhaps a lot of them - and give Israel responsibility for running Gaza even as it hunted and fought militants. 
 
 Lots of Israeli politicians want the army to go in, but so far PM Benjamin Netanyahu is hesitating. In the meantime, leaks suggesting a ground operation is "highly likely" are a psychological weapon in themselves. 
 
 However, Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri told Agence France-Presse: "The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now." 
 
 Mr Lieberman told Israeli media: "The reports of a ceasefire are far from representing reality. I spoke with the prime minister, and as of now they are incorrect." 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The UN said it used Thursday's brief ceasefire to distribute water, food and hygiene kits 
 
 A spokesman for Islamic Jihad, which is also involved in the talks, told the BBC the discussions in Cairo were "ongoing and intensive" and that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had asked for amendments to the Egyptian initiative, which the mediators were dealing with "positively". 
 
 Stocking up 
 
 The humanitarian truce took place between 10:00 and 15:00 local time on Thursday. 
 
 It was requested by the UN and other international organisations to provide emergency relief and distribute water, food and hygiene kits. 
 
 Gazans used the truce to stock up on supplies. They queued outside banks and there were traffic jams. 
 
 Both sides reported violations of the temporary truce. 
 
 And a few minutes after it ended, the Israel Defense Forces said a rocket fired from Gaza had hit the town of Ashkelon. It was followed by reports of further rocket attacks. 
 
 Witnesses in Gaza reported Israel's first air strike since the temporary truce ended - on agricultural land near Beit Lahiya. 
 
 The health ministry in Gaza later said an Israeli air strike had hit a home in Gaza City, killing three children. 
 
 Fighting had continued until the temporary truce came into effect on Thursday morning. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Are Israeli strike warnings effective? The BBC examines footage from both sides 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Shimon Peres: "We are really sorry to see four children being killed" 
 
 Palestinian medics said three people were killed by Israeli tank fire which hit a house in Rafah minutes before the ceasefire began. 
 
 The Israeli military earlier confirmed it had carried out dozens of air strikes on targets in Gaza since midnight, while Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities. 
 
 The Israeli military also said it had thwarted the infiltration into Israel by 13 Hamas gunmen via a tunnel from southern Gaza towards the southern Israeli kibbutz of Sufa on Thursday morning. 
 
 Killings 'unintentional' 
 
 Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres has apologised for the deaths of four Palestinian children killed when Israeli artillery fire hit a beach near Gaza City on Wednesday. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Israel says Palestinian militants have fired more than 1,380 rockets into Israel since 8 July 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption A building in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, takes a hit from an earlier Israeli air strike 
 
 "I think it was unintentional and we are really sorry to see four children being killed," he said in an interview with the BBC. 
 
 He said an evacuation warning had been issued ahead of the air strike, which was targeting "a great concentration of weapons" in the area. 
 
 The Israeli military said it was "carefully investigating" the incident, adding that "based on preliminary results, the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives". 
 
 Israel says it has carried out more than 1,960 attacks on Gaza since 8 July, while militants have fired some 1,380 rockets at Israel. 
 
 The Israeli military has mobilised tens of thousands of troops on the border with Gaza amid speculation that a ground invasion could be launched. 
 
 The UN says at least 1,370 homes have been destroyed in Gaza and more than 18,000 people displaced in recent hostilities. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Families are on the run in Gaza, reports Lyse Doucet; Quentin Sommerville in Israel says its tanks are on the move 
 
 The Israeli military has begun a ground offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, stepping up its 11-day-old military operation. 
 
 Troops and tanks were sent into Gaza to deal "a significant blow to Hamas", Israel said. 
 
 A Hamas spokesman said Israel would "pay a high price" for its actions. 
 
 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the invasion after days of intensive rocket fire and air strikes between the two sides. 
 
 Gaza's health ministry said 24 Palestinians had been killed and 200 injured since the ground offensive began on Thursday night. 
 
 A five-month-old child was among the dead, Palestinian medics told AFP news agency. Israel said it had killed 14 "terrorists" overnight. 
 
 Israel meanwhile suffered its first military fatality, with the death of a soldier during the invasion, it said. 
 
 Some 258 Palestinians - three-quarters of them civilians - have died since the start of the wider Israeli operation on 8 July, officials in Gaza say. 
 
 An Israeli civilian was killed from mortar fire, and several Israelis have been seriously injured, Israeli medics say. 
 
 'Heavy clashes' 
 
 Announcing the ground offensive, the Israeli military said: "Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Lyse Doucet was among the journalists and residents evacuated from an area of Gaza 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Clearly this is a major escalation of this conflict," reports Quentin Sommerville in Tel Aviv 
 
 It said the goal was to "establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continuous indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas' terror infrastructure". 
 
 In Gaza City overnight, plumes of black smoke could be seen from the border area where Israeli troops were operating, AP news agency reported. 
 
 At the scene: Paul Adams, BBC News, Gaza City 
 
 It's hard to get a detailed picture, since the main focus of Israeli activity is some distance from downtown Gaza. But it's clear this is not yet a full-scale ground invasion. 
 
 Areas in the north and south of the Gaza Strip came under heavy bombardment overnight, but ground operations are so far limited. An Israeli military spokesman told us that troops had destroyed tunnels along the border. 
 
 He also confirmed that troops and armour remain just inside a largely unpopulated area in the north. 
 
 The Israeli military is testing the water, gauging the level of opposition before deciding whether or not to move deeper inside the Gaza Strip. The death of one of its own soldiers, at this early stage, will have come as a warning of the dangers ahead. 
 
 But Prime Minister Netanyahu seems determined to inflict greater damage on Hamas and that could mean sending his troops into densely populated areas. This will be dangerous for them, and potentially devastating for any Palestinian civilians in the way. 
 
 Israel said the initial phase was aimed at targeting tunnels Hamas has dug under the border with Israel to use in attacks. 
 
 On Wednesday 13 militants infiltrated into Israel through a tunnel aiming to attack a kibbutz, Israeli officials said. The Israeli military said it killed at least one of the militants, while the others retreated through the tunnel. 
 
 Reuters news agency said Palestinians reported heavy clashes along the length of the eastern border, as well as in the northern towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Palestinian militants fire missiles at Israel amid Israeli air strikes 
 
 Military spokesman Gen Moti Almoz warned residents of Gaza to evacuate areas in which the army was operating. "This operation will be extended as much as necessary," he said. 
 
 Israel approved the drafting of 18,000 more reservists on Thursday evening, bringing the total of extra troops called up since 8 July to 65,000. 
 
 Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said that the Israeli ground operation was "destined to failure". 
 
 "What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive", he said. 
 
 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the ground operation would lead to "more bloodshed" and called on Israel to stop. 
 
 Mr Abbas, whose Fatah party recently agreed to a unity government with Hamas, was meeting Egyptian officials in Cairo amid efforts to negotiate a truce. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Are Israeli strike warnings effective? The BBC examines footage from both sides 
 
 The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem says it is possible that with the ground invasion Israel is seeking to improve its military position in advance of any deal, but that more probably it has concluded that a ceasefire at the moment in unlikely. 
 
 Israel says it has carried out more than 1,960 attacks on Gaza since 8 July, while militants have fired some 1,380 rockets at Israel. It says more than 50 rockets have been fired at Israel since the ground operation began. 
 
 The UN says at least 1,370 homes have been destroyed in Gaza and more than 18,000 people displaced in recent hostilities. 
 
 The ground offensive follows attempts in Cairo to negotiate a new ceasefire. 
 
 There was a temporary ceasefire on Thursday to allow Palestinians to stock up on supplies and aid workers to distribute water, food and hygiene kits. 
 
 The truce lasted for five hours, although both sides reported violations.
– Optimists hoped today's humanitarian cease-fire might lead to a longer peace in Israel and Gaza, but that's not the case by a long shot. In fact, Israel just raised the stakes considerably by launching a ground offensive into Gaza, reports the BBC. A military statement said the goal was “establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continuous indiscriminate terror," reports the New York Times. Troops were expected to focus on so-called "terror tunnels" used to infiltrate the country. It's not clear whether the ground offensive will be a quick strike or a longer one with the goal of taking control of Gaza. An Israeli defense official who speculated yesterday about such a move said that a takeover of Gaza wouldn't be too much of a challenge, but that any such mission would have to last "many months" in order to fully secure the area. Today's development comes after 10 days of back-and-forth bombing, notes CNN.