Jerusalem, July 15 (IANS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will intensify its Gaza campaign if Hamas rejects a ceasefire agreement proposed by Egypt, according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu made the statement to reporters after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is currently visiting the region to try and facilitate a truce between Israel and Hamas, Xinhua reported.
"We agreed to the Egyptian proposal in order to give a chance for the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip, from missiles, rockets and tunnels, through diplomatic means," Netanyahu said, according to the statement.
"If Hamas does not accept the ceasefire proposal, as would now seem to be the case, Israel would have all the international legitimacy to expand the military operation to achieve the required quiet," Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu's statement came as several rocket barrages hit Israel early Tuesday after the deadline stated in the ceasefire agreement.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel's security cabinet agreed to an Egyptian ceasefire proposal which would put an end to the eight-day-old Operation Protective Edge.
According to the Egyptian proposal, the ceasefire would start at 9 a.m. Tuesday and last for 48 hours, after which both the parties' officials will discuss the understandings reached in November 2012, after Operation Pillar of Defence.
Hamas, on its part, announced on its website that the ceasefire agreement was a "surrender" and insisted Israel release 56 Palestinians affiliated to the organisation and arrested in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank last month, following the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers.
Operation Protective Edge started a week ago with the Israeli Air Force striking more than 1,500 targets, killing 178 Palestinians and wounding 1,100 of them.
More than 700 rockets and mortars were fired at Israeli communities in the past week throughout south, south central and central Israel, with some rockets hitting the northern city of Haifa, some 130 km north of the Gaza Strip.