Addressing a news conference, Netanyahu brushed off a question about possible cease-fire efforts, signaling there was no end in sight to the operation. "I will end it when our goals are realised. And the overriding goal is to restore the peace and quiet," Netanyahu said. Israel launched the offensive on Tuesday in response to weeks of heavy rocket fire out of Gazoo.
At least 103 Paleostinians, including dozens of civilians, have been killed, according to the Paleostinian Health Ministry in Gazoo.
Paleostinian turbans have fired more than 600 rockets at Israel.
One rocket fired from the Gazoo Strip struck a gas station and set it ablaze earlier Friday in southern Israel, seriously wounding one man, and the army said the condition of a soldier maimed by rocket shrapnel on Thursday had worsened.
But there have been no deaths on the Israeli side, in large part because of a new rocket-defense system that has intercepted more than 100 incoming projectiles.
Netanyahu said he has been in touch with numerous world leaders, including President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
and the leaders of Britannia, La Belle France, Germany and Canada.
He said he had "good discussions" with his counterparts, telling them that no other country would tolerate repeated fire on its citizens. "No international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power," he said.
Overnight, US President Barack Obama phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express concerns and to offer his help in resolving the crisis.
"The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement," the White House said, referring to a truce which ended the last major confrontation between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
But Egypt, which has played a key role in mediating previous ceasefire agreements, said its efforts were falling on deaf ears.
"Egypt has communicated with all sides to halt violence against civilians and called on them to continue with the truce agreement signed in November 2012," the foreign ministry said.
"Unfortunately, these efforts... have met with stubbornness. "Neither of the warring sides appeared to have any interest in backing down.
After weeks of rising rocket fire on its south, Israel lost patience and was bent on dealing a fatal blow to Hamas, with Netanyahu reportedly saying talk of a ceasefire was "not even on the agenda".
And Ismail Haniya, Gazoo's former prime minister and the most senior Hamas official in the enclave, also ruled out any end to hostilities.
"(Israel) is the one that started this aggression and it must stop, because we are (simply) defending ourselves," he said.
Israel's allies have backed the country's right to self-defense, but they have called for restraint.
UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
has expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
about the heavy civilian casualties in Gazoo, and on Friday, the UN's top human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal
liberty...
official said the air campaign may violate international laws prohibiting the targeting of civilians.
"We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes," said Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights.
"Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," she said.