Hamas says 'land war' would cost Israeli PM Netanyahu the election

[NewsCaster]

Israel's war to stop Hamas's rockets continued overnight with 100 strikes from the air and sea, according to a count in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas retaliated with more than 20 new launches toward southern Israel and Tel Aviv. NBC's Richard Engel reports.By NBC News and wire reportsUpdated at 3:02 p.m. ET: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The leader of Hamas said Monday it was up to Israel to end the new  conflict it had started, adding that a "land war" would cost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the election.

"[Netanyahu] can do it, but he knows that it will not be a picnic and that it could be his political death and cost him the elections," Khaled Meshaal, exiled leader of Hamas, told a  news conference in  Cairo.

"Whoever started  the war must end it," Meshaal said, adding that Netanyahu, who faces an election in January, had  asked for a truce, an  assertion a senior Israeli official described as  untrue.

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