Israel has destroyed two thirds of Hamas regiments, Netanyahu says

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has destroyed around two thirds of Hamas' fighting regiments in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, vowing to press on with the war until "complete victory."

"There are two stages to the fighting; The first is destroying the Hamas regiments, those are their organised combat frameworks," Netanyahu said at a news conference in Tel Aviv.

"Up until now sixteen or seventeen out of twenty four have been destroyed. After that there is the (stage) of clearing the territory (of militants). The first action is usually shorter, the second usually takes longer."

Holding up a photo of a fallen Israeli soldier, Netanyahu said troops will not have died in vain and pledged fighting would continue until Hamas has been defeated and the hostages in Gaza recovered.

"Victory will take many more months but we are determined to achieve it," Netanyahu said.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kate Holton)