Israel has pounded Gaza with “significant” strikes as soldiers battled Hamas forces in the besieged territory, ignoring ceasefire calls by UN aid agencies who condemned surging civilian deaths in the month-long conflict, AFP reports.

“We will take the fight to Hamas wherever they are, underground, above ground”, Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said at a briefing today, repeating calls for civilians to leave the urban war zone in the north of the Gaza Strip.

“We will be able to dismantle Hamas, stronghold after stronghold, battalion after battalion, until we achieve the ultimate goal, which is to rid the Gaza Strip — the entire Gaza Strip — of Hamas.”

Conricus again accused Hamas of building tunnels underneath hospitals, schools and places of worship in Gaza to hide fighters, plan attacks and store ammunition — a charge the group has repeatedly refuted.