Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said on Friday that the large-scale Israeli military offensive in the Palestinian territories was aimed at toppling his Hamas-led government.

"This aggression is carried out against the Palestinian people and their government that was democratically elected. The aim I believe is to topple this government," Haneya said in his first public address during Friday's prayers in a Gaza City mosque since Israel launched air and ground assault in the Gaza Strip early on Wednesday dubbed "Operation Summer Rains" to free a soldier abducted by Palestinian militants last Sunday.

Haniya vowed that his government would not fall after Israeli army arrested 64 Hamas politicians, including nine ministers and 24 parliament members, in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and blitzed Gaza in a series of overnight air strikes, setting the Hamas-controlled interior ministry ablaze.

Meanwhile, Haneya called on the Middle East Quartet, grouping the United States, the European Union, Russia and the UN, to press Israel to stop immediately its military actions and get back to diplomatic dialogue to free the soldier.

Israeli F16 jets continued raid on Friday afternoon by launching two missiles in the northern Gaza Strip, destroying roads used by militants.

Meanwhile, thousands of Hamas supporters demonstrated in Gaza to support the government and condemn the escalated Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Source: Xinhua