Gaza Strip Crisis: We Will Not Negotiate Under Fire, Says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that there will be no negotiations with Hamas until the fighting stops in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said he is determined to ensure that the ongoing Operation Protective Edge crushes the Palestine-based militant group, despite increasing international pressure to find a peaceful solution.

"Israel will not negotiate under fire. We will do everything to change the present reality, to bring quiet to all citizens," he said at a weekly cabinet meeting.

"Operation Protective Edge is ongoing. At no point did we declare it over. The operation will continue until its goal is met – restoring long-term quiet. I said all along, it will take time and requires patience."

At the cabinet meeting, ministers strongly rallied behind Netanyahu's stance that Hamas must be uprooted from Gaza.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "Hamas must be defeated. We [must] clean up the area and leave as fast as possible. If only someone would have listened to me on day one, we would have been done already."

Defence minister Moshe Ya'alon said: "If Hamas thinks it will wear us out, it is wrong. We will return to the talks only when there is a ceasefire. I understand the southern residents who expect quiet and security. As we said when we started the campaign and throughout – we will not compromise on anything, and we will continue until we achieve a complete cessation of fire."

The Israel-Gaza conflict that began on 8 July has claimed hundreds of Palestinian lives and dozens of Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian authorities say a 14 year-old boy, a woman and another person have been killed in Israeli shelling during the latest fighting.