Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military will dismantle the Hamas tunnel network in the Gaza Strip “with or without a ceasefire”.
Netanyahu said he will not accept any truce that would not allow Israel to complete its mission of destroying the sophisticated tunnel network, which has been used to carry out deadly attacks inside Israel.
Israel launched its air campaign on July 8 to stop unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza toward Israel.
It expanded the operation with a ground offensive on July 17 with the primary purpose of blocking Hamas infiltration attempts through the tunnels.