Clashes were reported in Gaza City, the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp. Both sides have reported casualties in the fighting.
The UN secretary general has called for an immediate halt to operations.
But an emergency Security Council meeting failed to agree a united approach to the Gaza conflict.
Diplomatic sources said it was the United States that blocked an agreement. US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff suggested that an official statement that criticised both Israel and Hamas would not have been helpful.
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In other developments:
- Hamas radio and TV report the capture of two Israeli soldiers during the fighting, but the Israeli army says it has no knowledge of the claim
- Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says Israel will expand and intensify its operation as much as necessary
- At least nine missiles are fired into Israel from Gaza, targeting Sderot, Netivot and other communities close to the border. There were no reports of damage or casualties
- Tank shell in northern Gaza kills 12 people, most of them civilians, Palestinian sources say
As dawn broke on Sunday, a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from part of the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Correspondents say there was a constant sound of machine-gun fire and explosions, as Israeli forces pounded Gaza from land and sea. The shelling went on throughout the night.
Witnesses say the attack began when Israeli military convoys supported by attack helicopters crossed into northern Gaza at four separate points after nightfall on Saturday.
Advancing Israeli tanks were reported to be in battles around Gaza City and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya, the AFP news agency reported. Hamas fighters replied with mortars and rockets, witnesses said.
According to witnesses, Israeli troops have largely remained in the open and not entered urban areas.
The Israeli military said 40 sites had been targeted, including tunnels used for smuggling, weapons depots and rocket launch sites.
Sources inside Gaza say at least 20 people were killed in overnight fighting, several of them civilians, and dozens were injured.
The Israeli army said 30 of its soldiers had been wounded in the ground offensive, two of them seriously.
'Limited' operation
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the objective of the ground operation was "to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations".
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"We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas," Maj Avital Leibovitch told reporters.
Israeli officials have described the offensive as a "limited" operation.
The move into Gaza had been preceded by some of the heaviest Israeli air and artillery attacks on the territory in more than a week of bombardment.
"Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel," Mr Barak told a news conference.
The BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem says this is probably just the first wave of the assault, since there are said to be some 10,000 Israeli troops and hundreds of tanks massed on the border with Gaza.
UN fails to reach Gaza consensus
Just before the ground offensive began, Hamas issued a statement promising that Palestinian children would be picking over the ruins of Israeli tanks and the body parts of Israeli soldiers.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the offensive as "a vicious aggression".
Our correspondent says this promises to be a very bloody encounter.
'General convergence'
Israeli warplanes and naval vessels have carried out more than 800 strikes on the Gaza Strip since the offensive started eight days ago, including 40 on Saturday.
The UN has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis, and believes 25% of more than 460 Palestinians killed by Israel so far were civilians. Israel says about 80% of those killed were Hamas militants. Four Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza.
Earlier on Saturday, at least 13 people were killed in one Israeli raid when a missile struck a crowded mosque in Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said.
Around the world, demonstrations were held against Israel's military operations, with 20,000 in Paris and 10,000 in London.
In Israel itself, tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs gathered in the town of Sakhnin to protest against their government's actions. Peace groups held a demonstration in Tel Aviv.
source : news.bbc.co.uk
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