WRAPUP 1-Israel says ground forces operating across Gaza Strip as offensive builds

Israeli ground forces were confronting Hamas fighters across the across the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday in its clearest indication yet that a planned ground offensive in the enclave's refugee-crowded south had begun as Israeli bombing killed and wounded dozens of Palestinians. The Hamas Palestinian militant group said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops about 2 km (1 mile) from the southern city of Khan Younis.