MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was determined to complete the destruction of tunnels that Palestinian militants use to smuggle arms and secretly enter Israeli territory, Reuters reported.
"We are determined to complete this mission with or without a ceasefire," Reuters cited Netanyahu as saying in public remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.
"I wont agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to complete this important task for the sake of Israel's security," Netanyahu added.
According to Reuters, Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman, chief of Israeli forces in Gaza, earlier said they were "but a few days away from destroying all the attack tunnels."
Almost 130 Palestinians have been killed on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been conducting a special military operation against the Hamas movement.
“Today 129 people died, 400 were injured. The total number of those killed in course of the operation has reached 1,359 with 7,677 wounded,” Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra told journalists.
The majority of Wednesday’s victims were killed during the shelling of the market in Shejaiya near Gaza City and of the UN-run school in the city of Jabalia.
The shelling was condemned by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and many international leaders.
Over the last three weeks, Israel has lost 56 people, including 53 officers and soldiers.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8, targeting the Hamas movement and its allied groups of rebels in response to Palestinian aggression.
On July 17, following days of fighting, Tel Aviv switched to a ground offensive to find and destroy the network of Hamas tunnels that crisscross the border area.
