By Joyce Pangco Pa?ares

THE Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv failed to evacuate a single Filipino from the Gaza Strip yesterday as a result of the heavy fighting between Israeli and Hamas forces.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said another problem was that of the 70 Filipinos scheduled to fly to Amman yesterday, only six said they were ready to leave behind their Palestinian families.

?Of the 108 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip, only one is working as a domestic. Twenty Filipinas are married to Palestinians, and the rest are their children and other family members,? Conejos said in a telephone interview.

?This makes it harder for us to convince them to leave Gaza... because their families are there. These Filipinas met their Palestinian husbands in the Philippines and have been living in the Gaza Strip for the past 15 to 20 years now.? he said.

Conejos could not give a definite schedule for any new attempt to get the Filipinos out of the Gaza Strip.

?There is a war going on in there now, so we cannot say with certainty when our next attempt would be. But our embassy is ready,? he said.

The six Filipinos who have agreed to be repatriated were supposed to join a convoy of the International Red Cross.

But the plan to move out to Amman did not push through because of heavy ground attacks by Israeli troops.

Both sides battled at dawn in Gaza on Monday amid tank, artillery and air strikes as the death toll from the Israeli offensive to end Hamas? rocket attacks passed 510.

Israeli forces moved into the fringes of Gaza City as families fled or remained hidden after a second night of combat.

Just before dawn two loud explosions were heard in Gaza City, and shelling from naval boats off the coast could also be heard.

There were also reports of artillery from Israel and navy gunboats shelling the two main north-south roads at points in central and southern Gaza.

The Israeli air force attacked 130 targets in Gaza overnight, a spokesman said.

At least 70 Palestinians have been killed since Israel sent ground troops into Gaza on Saturday night, Gaza medics said.

Israel said one soldier was killed by a mortar shell on Sunday and another 19 were wounded, bringing the total to 49 since the beginning of the incursion.

Witnesses said tanks had cut off Gaza City and the far north from the rest of the strip, which would prevent the entry of arms, supplies and fighters from the south.

An Agence France-Presse photographer said warplanes were also bombing targets in the southern border town of Rafah, where hundreds of tunnels are used to smuggle in supplies from Egypt.

The army declined to confirm or deny the reports.

Fierce clashes were also reported around the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya. With AP