Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, wears a protective vest and helmet as he receives a security briefing with commanders and soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, on Dec 25, 2023. (HANDOUT / GPO VIA AP)

JERUSALEM / GAZA / TEHRAN - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the northern Gaza Strip on Monday and vowed to continue the fight, the prime minister's office said.

Netanyahu visited the Palestinian enclave, where an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged, together with Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Amir Baram, the office said.

"We don't stop. The war continues to the end until we finish them, nothing less," Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, at least two soldiers were killed on Monday in battles in Gaza, said the Israeli military, bringing the total death toll of Israeli soldiers since the outbreak of the conflict to 156.

Since the army began its offensive in response to Hamas' surprise attack on Oct 7, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 hostages were taken, large parts of Gaza have been devastated and most of its 2.3 million population have been displaced

Since the army began its offensive in response to Hamas' surprise attack on Oct 7, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 hostages were taken, large parts of Gaza have been devastated and most of its 2.3 million population have been displaced.

At least 20,674 Palestinians were killed and 54,536 others wounded in the enclave, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Monday.

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In the past 24 hours, 250 Palestinians have died in the 25 air and ground operations launched by Israeli forces across the enclave, the ministry said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Israel for disregarding international calls for a halt of the military offensive against Palestinian civilians and for restraining settler militias.

The ministry also emphasized the need for a United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution to be adopted to allow for a safe and speedy delivery of aid and ensure the security of Palestinian civilians.

Also on Monday, Hamas denied that it had rejected an Egyptian proposal to end the conflict in Gaza and exchange prisoners with Israel as reported by some media outlets.

Ezat al-Rashq, a member of Hamas' Political Bureau, said in a statement that the group "confirmed that there are no negotiations except with a comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression."

Palestinians mourn their relatives, killed in an overnight Israeli strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Dec 25, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

Rashq added Hamas' leadership "is vigorously seeking to halt the aggression and killing against our people entirely, not temporarily."

"Our people want the aggression to stop, not temporary truces or partial calm followed by continued aggression," he said.

Reuters, citing two Egyptian security sources, reported on Monday that "Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire."

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday strongly condemned the "brutal" Israeli bombardment of central Gaza's al-Maghazi refugee camp that killed at least 70 Palestinians on Sunday.

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At a weekly press conference in Tehran, Nasser Kanaani said it was regrettable that when many people prayed in sympathy and solidarity for the Palestinians, Israel did not stop its "crimes" and killing in Gaza.

Kanaani called on the international community to take practical and deterrent measures to prevent Israel's continued killing of Palestinians.

When commenting on a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday demanding immediate and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza, the spokesman said it once again showed the US full support for Israel.

He condemned the US for its reluctance to consent to "the inclusion of any paragraph" in a resolution to stop Israel's "criminal" attacks against the coastal enclave, referring to the US veto of a Russian amendment that would have restored the call for a "suspension of hostilities," as well as its abstention in the vote for the Friday-adopted UNSC resolution on Gaza.

en recover the body of a victim killed in the aftermath of an overnight Israeli strike at al-Maghazi refugee camp on Dec 25, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

Kanaani said, unlike what Palestinians expect and the international community demands, the resolution is "contentless and impossible to implement," since it is not possible to send aid to the enclave under relentless Israeli bombardments.