NEW DELHI, Aug 7: The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza and eventually hand it over to Arab forces to govern it properly.
“We intend to,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News when asked if Israel would take control of the entire 26-mile strip. “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body.”
Earlier in an interview with India’s NDTV also Mr Netanyahu said Israel would increase its military operations in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza but would not annex it entirely. Instead Israel was preparing to establish a new ‘security perimeter’ inside Gaza — which is already heavily barriered with just one crossing point controlled solely by the Israeli government.
In response to a specific question from NDTV’s Vishnu Som on the potential loss of life from any expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel was aiming for the elimination of Hamas and was working towards the return of hostages.
The plan involves significant military movement but stops short of a complete territorial takeover. The Prime Minister added that Gaza would eventually be handed over to a transitional governing authority. The Israeli plan also involves the setting up of a security perimeter in Gaza to prevent future incursions.
Israeli officials maintain that the war could end immediately if Hamas surrenders and lays down arms, adding that future attacks would avoid large-scale loss of civilian life. Since launching its brutal offensive following the October 7 Hamas attack, Israel has killed at least 61,158 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza.
While Israeli forces claim to have severely weakened Hamas, the group continues to launch sporadic attacks. Gaza’s infrastructure is devastated, and the region is nearing famine.
International negotiations involving Egypt, Qatar, and the US have yet to deliver a lasting ceasefire despite months of talks. Multiple ceasefire attempts — including a six-week pause negotiated by the Trump administration in January — have failed to yield a solution. That truce saw 25 hostages released alive and the bodies of 8 others returned, alongside a surge in humanitarian assistance.
Israel pulled out of that agreement in March, citing Hamas’ refusal to disarm and the need for more hostages to be released. Talks since then have faltered, with both sides accusing the other of acting in bad faith. The Israeli PM told NDTV that Hamas could “end the war tomorrow” by surrendering its weapons and releasing hostages unconditionally. However, Hamas has made its own demands clear: the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, and international guarantees that Israel will not resume hostilities.
(Manas Dasgupta)