Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iran's atomic drive "will be stopped," a day after a nuclear deal bringing in sanctions relief for Tehran took effect.

"Iran's military nuclear program must be stopped, and Iran's military nuclear program will be stopped," Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem, without elaborating.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to teach Gaza's ruling Hamas movement a lesson "very soon" following a surge in militant rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

"We foil terrorist attacks when we identify that they are in the making and we respond against those who attack us," Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem at a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper.

An international agreement to halt Iran's nuclear program, which went into force Monday, will not halt Tehran from pursuing its bid to build military atomic capability, Israel's prime minister said.

"The interim agreement which went into force today does not prevent Iran from realizing its intention to develop nuclear weapons," Benjamin Netanyahu told a special session of parliament.

Israel's premier on Sunday condemned a decision by the U.N. cultural agency to postpone an exhibit tracing 3,500 years of ties between the Jewish people and Israel, following pressure from Arab countries.

UNESCO had said on Friday it was postponing the exhibit after receiving a letter from the 22-member Arab Group which expressed concern it "could impact negatively on the peace process and current negotiations under way in the Middle East."

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that he wants to annex a fourth bloc of West Bank settlements, army radio reported on Sunday.

Until now, Israel has always spoken of its intention to annex three blocs of settlements in any future agreement with the Palestinians: the Etzion bloc in the south, Maaleh Adumim to the east of Jerusalem and the Ariel block in the north.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the European Union Thursday for summoning envoys over plans for some 1,800 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

"This is hypocrisy. The EU calls our ambassadors in because of the construction of a few houses? When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors about incitement that calls for Israel's destruction?" Netanyahu asked foreign correspondents at his annual new year reception.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to neighboring Jordan on Thursday for talks with King Abdullah II on the Middle East peace process, the royal court said.

The rare meeting in the capital Amman comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry presses Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a framework to guide peace talks forward.

A senior U.S. official on Tuesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly disavow a complaint by Israel's defense minister that John Kerry has a messianic "obsession" with Middle East peace.

The official made the highly unusual demand as fresh tension erupted between the governments of President Barack Obama and of Netanyahu after the minister, Moshe Yaalon, was quoted as branding the U.S. secretary of state, who has made 10 trips to Israel since March, a nuisance.

A state memorial for the late Israeli premier Ariel Sharon got under way at the parliament in Jerusalem on Monday in the presence of Israeli and foreign dignitaries.

The ceremony, which was being held in the plaza outside the Knesset, began with the singing of a traditional Jewish memorial prayer, with a funeral to take place later in the day at Sharon's ranch in southern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, whose countries are arch-foes, are both set to attend the World Economic Forum this month, organizers said Friday.

WEF spokeswoman Michele Mischler confirmed to Agence France Presse that both leaders would be at the January 22-25 annual gathering of top politicians and business leaders in the plush Swiss ski resort of Davos.