Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his government will continue the war on the Gaza Strip "until the end."

Netanyahu's statements came in the wake of Israeli reports talking about the possibility of reaching new humanitarian truces in Gaza within the framework of prisoner exchanges with Palestinian factions.

Netanyahu said in a statement: “We will continue the war until the end. The war will continue until the elimination of Hamas, until victory is achieved,” as he put it.

He added: "Those who believe that we will stop are delusional and have no relation to reality. We will not stop the fighting until we achieve all the goals that we have set: eliminating Hamas, releasing our kidnappers, and removing the threat posed by Gaza."

Referring to the leaders of the Hamas movement, Netanyahu considered that “they have only two options: surrender or death.”

As of 15:40 (UTG), Hamas had not issued a comment on Netanyahu’s statements.

Israeli reports indicated contacts to explore opportunities to reach an agreement for a new humanitarian truce, including an exchange for the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

A temporary truce that lasted for a week between Israel and Hamas ended in early December, during which prisoners and detainees were exchanged between the two parties, and a small amount of relief aid and limited quantities of fuel were brought into the Gaza Strip.