Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip have heightened the tensions surrounding the Palestinian bid for observer membership at the United Nations planned for later this month.

The Palestinian U.N. envoy said Wednesday's attack -- which killed the top Hamas military commander in the territory -- was deliberately timed to torpedo the U.N. vote in two weeks and influence Israel's general election in January.

Israel will never defeat Gaza, Khaled Meshaal, the exiled chief of the Hamas movement which rules the Palestinian territory, said in a defiant speech in Sudan on Thursday.

"This enemy is weak and cannot vanquish Gaza," Meshaal told a major conference of Sudanese Islamists.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi decided on Wednesday to recall the ambassador to Israel after a series of air strikes in Gaza killed a top Hamas militant and six other people, his spokesman said.

Morsi decided to "recall Egypt's ambassador to Israel," spokesman Yassir Ali said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Israel sent a "clear message" to Hamas through the killing of its top military commander and is ready to widen its operation in Gaza if necessary, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday.

"Today we sent a clear message to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and if it becomes necessary we are prepared to expand the operation," he said in a televised address.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday slammed a series of Israeli strikes on Gaza which killed a top Hamas commander and six others, demanding an immediate end to the bloodshed.

"President Mahmud Abbas condemned the Israeli aggression on Gaza," said a statement carried on the official WAFA news agency which was issued shortly after an Israeli strike hit a car in Gaza City, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jaabari.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr condemned the Israeli air strikes on Wednesday that killed a top Hamas militant in Gaza and called for an "immediate stop" to attacks on the Palestinian territory.

Amr, in a statement, warned Israel against any "escalation and its possible negative effects on regional stability."

U.S. President Barack Obama should use his second term to concentrate on "the real problem in the region," the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said on Wednesday.

"We hope during the second term of President Obama, he pays more attention to the real problem in the Middle East, which also affects the people of the United States, namely the Palestinian issue, which must be resolved on the basis of international legitimacy," he said in an interview with AFP.

The Palestinians on Tuesday began work to open the grave of the late Yasser Arafat ahead of an exhumation of his body for a murder probe, a source close to his family told Agence France Presse.

"Today they started removing concrete and stones from Arafat's mausoleum and the work will last for almost 15 days," the source said.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo on Monday that the Palestinian Authority will present its bid for non-state membership of the United Nations on November 29.

Following talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, "it has been agreed that the request will be presented on November 29," Abbas said, calling for support from Arab states.

Israel is preparing for a huge expansion of the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank, the Peace Now settler watchdog said on Monday.

The plan, which has yet to be approved, would see Itamar expanding five-fold from 137 homes to 675.