Hamas Tunnels For Gaza Ceasefire: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he would not agree to any ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip that does not allow the Israeli army to destroy all Hamas' tunnels linking the enclave to Israeli territory.



"Israel is determined to complete destroying tunnels in Gaza" Netanyahu said in a statement ahead of a cabinet meeting.



"We won't agree to any ceasefire agreement that wouldn't allow the Israeli army to complete this important task for the sake of Israeli citizens' security," he added.



Netanyahu asserted that dozens of tunnels had been destroyed and that the army will "finish the rest with or without a ceasefire."



Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, for his part, said that the Israeli military operation in Gaza will not end before security is restored to Israel.



The Israeli operation caused "unprecedented" damage to Hamas, he added.



Israel has been pounding the besieged Gaza Strip since July 7 with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the region.



Over 1370 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7000 others injured in the unrelenting Israeli aerial, naval and ground attacks.



The majority of the dead and injured are civilians, with a considerable proportion of them being children, women and elderly.



Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing military offensive.



According to official Israeli figures, 53 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.



Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.



By Anees Barghouthy



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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