Netanyahu calls for continuation of Gaza aggression

"We must be prepared for a lengthy campaign" in Gaza, said the Israeli prime minister on Monday.

Netanyahu further described Palestinian resistance fighters as a “cruel enemy”.

The Israeli premier also criticized a call by the United Nations Security Council for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza.

Rwanda, the current president of the Security Council, said late on Sunday that the 15-member world body agreed on a statement, which will be adopted in an emergency meeting later on Monday.

The statement called on Tel Aviv and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas "to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire into the Eid period and beyond," referring to the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Since July 8, Israeli warplanes have been pounding numerous sites in the Gaza Strip, demolishing houses and burying families in the rubble. Israeli tanks also began a ground offensive against the impoverished Palestinian land on July 17.

Palestinian medics say more than 1,095 Palestinians have been killed so far in the Israeli attacks and nearly 6,500 others injured.

Top Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh has said the besieged Gaza Strip will become “a graveyard for Israeli soldiers” who are committing crimes against the Palestinians.

HK