Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for Hamas operatives to lay down their arms, saying the Palestinian group's end was near, as the war in the Gaza Strip raged more than two months after it began. "The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It's over. Don't die for (Yahya) Sinwar. Surrender now," Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.