Israeli Forces continued their assault on Gaza on Tuesday, as their offensive to control the Gaza strip entered its third week.

An estimated 1,000 ground troops have so far advanced 62 miles inside Gaza territory near Beti Hanoun, and five other areas are experiencing the effects of ground forces. These incursions are leading to high levels of civilian casualties and destruction of buildings and infrastructure leaving many people homeless according to UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. An estimated 472 houses have been totally destroyed or severely damaged.

The UNCHAOPT latest situation report from July 21 states 479 Palestinians killed by air, naval and ground strikes against Gaza. That figure includes 364 civilians, of whom 121 are children. Twenty five members of one family, five women two of whom were pregnant, including 18 children were killed by an airstrike on their home. Twenty-seven Israeli's have been killed. Displaced people number 100,000 and they are housed in 69 UNRWA schools. 

In Cairo, UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, and Secretary of State, John Kerry met with Egyptian officials also on Tuesday to talk about an unconditional cease fire to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza. Israel and Egypt have restricted movement in and out of Gaza since the political group Hamas had an election victory wining a majority of seats in Palestine in 2006, with many referring to Gaza as an on air prison.

In a briefing to the Security Council on Gaza, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, "I have carried a three-part message at every turn of my visit. First, stop the fighting. Second, start the dialogue. Third, tackle the root causes. A ceasefire is essential -- but without addressing the deeper issues, we will never solve the problem, we will merely delay it for yet another time. The cycle will continue -- except the bitterness and hatred will become that much more entrenched each time it comes around. Quite simply, if a people are left with despair and occupation, the problem won't disappear, it will only grow."

Hamas wants the border blockage, with Eqypt on one side and Israel on the other, lifted before negotiating a ceasefire.  The border blockage has impoverished Gaza through limiting imports and exports of construction material. Israel argues the imports are used for weapon buying but they do allow the import of consumer goods into Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Hamas, a group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, does not want a two-state solution.

The Associated Press reporting from the UN said "Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, demanded to know what the Security Council is doing to stop this bloodletting, "to stop Israel's atrocities" and uphold its responsibility to protect its civilians.  Mansour urged the council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to the fighting."