Israeli air strike kills 18, wounds 35 people

Health Ministry of Palestinian government in Gaza said 18 people including children and women were killed and 35 others were wounded Monday in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip. In an air strike on Zeytun district, 4 people from the same family -- one of them was a 1.5 year old baby -- were killed. Officials said that 7 of the wounded were in serious condition. Death toll from the six-day-old Israeli offensive had reached 91. Nearly 800 people have been wounded. Meanwhile, Israel is ready for a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip but prefers a diplomatic solution, a senior official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "We would prefer to see a diplomatic solution that would guarantee the peace for Israel's population in the south. If that is possible, then a ground operation would no longer be required," the official told Reuters. "But if diplomacy fails, we may well have no alternative but to send in ground forces."