Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to take full control of Gaza but does not intend to govern it.
Meanwhile, his security cabinet convened on Thursday to discuss the country’s war plans.
The meeting comes as Netanyahu faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a deal to spare the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants and pull the territory back from the brink of famine.
With tensions rising, Netanyahu took to the airwaves in the US, where he told Fox News the government intends to take full control of Gaza, following 22 months of war against Hamas.
“We intend to,” Netanyahu replied, when asked if Israel will take control of “all of Gaza”.
Netanyahu is expected to seek the security cabinet’s approval for the expanded offensive, which will see the army operate in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, Israeli media reported.
Asked by Fox News if Israel would again control the whole of Gaza, as it did between 1967 and 2005, Netanyahu replied: “Well, we don’t want to keep it.
“We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it.
“We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That’s not possible with Hamas,” he said.
The government’s plans to expand the war have sparked growing concern in Israel about what it means for the remaining hostages, who have already endured 22 months in captivity since Hamas’s October 2023 attack.
As the meeting kicked off, hundreds rallied near the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, where they called for a deal to release the hostages.
