By Alexander Cornwell, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Charlotte Greenfield
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.
“We intend to,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory. “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.”
He said that Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it. He did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.
Netanyahu made the comments to Fox News shortly before a meeting he was due to have on Thursday with a small group of senior ministers to discuss plans for the military to take control of more territory in Gaza.
The security cabinet session follows another meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials have described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.
Two government sources said any resolution by the security cabinet would need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.
Among the scenarios that were being considered ahead of the security meeting was a phased takeover of areas in Gaza not yet under military control, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Evacuation warnings could be issued to Palestinians in specific areas of Gaza, potentially giving them several weeks before the military moves in, the person added.
Total control of the territory would reverse a 2005 decision by Israel by which it withdrew Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities. Right-wing parties blame that withdrawal decision for the militant Palestinian group Hamas gaining power there in a 2006 election.
It was unclear whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged takeover or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages.
Hamas in a statement called Netanyahu’s comments “a blatant coup” against the negotiation process.
“Netanyahu’s plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he seeks to get rid of his captives and sacrifice them,” the statement said.
Earlier this year Israel and the United States rejected an Egyptian proposal, backed by Arab leaders, that envisaged the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war.
Opinion polls show that most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas-led Palestinian militants.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump declined on Tuesday to say whether he supported or opposed a potential full military takeover of Gaza by Israel.
Netanyahu’s government has insisted on total victory over Hamas, which ignited the war when it staged a deadly October 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza.
The U.N. has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza “deeply alarming” if true.
The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition, of Israeli forces thrusting into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has also generated alarm in Israel.
DEMANDING END TO WAR
Outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest against the notion of an expanded war, demanding an immediate end to the military campaign in return for the release of all of the hostages.
Protesters held signs bearing the faces of hostages still held in Gaza and voiced deep frustration with the government’s handling of the crisis.
“I’m here because I am sick and tired of this government. It’s ruined our life,” said 55-year-old Noa Starkman, a Jerusalem resident who was born in a southern Israeli community close to where Hamas attacked in October 2023.
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents captives held in Gaza, urged military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to oppose widening the war and the government to accept a deal that would end the war and free the remaining hostages.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military would carry out the government’s decisions until all war objectives were achieved.
Israeli leaders have long insisted that Hamas be disarmed and have no future role in a demilitarised Gaza and that the hostages be freed.
REMAINING HOSTAGES
There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom Israeli officials believe 20 are alive. Most of those freed so far emerged as a result of diplomatic negotiations. Talks toward a ceasefire that could have seen some more hostages released collapsed in July.
A senior Palestinian official said Hamas had told Arab mediators that an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza would lead to a resumption in ceasefire negotiations.
Israeli officials accuse Hamas of seizing aid to hand out to its fighters and to sell in Gazan markets to finance its operations, accusations that the militant group denies.
Videos released last week of two living hostages showed them emaciated and frail, stirring international condemnation.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but now controls only fragmented parts, insists any deal must lead to a permanent end to the war. Israel says the group has no intention of going through with promises to give up power afterwards.
MULTIPLE DISPLACEMENTS
The Israeli military says it controls about 75% of Gaza. Most of Gaza’s population of about 2 million has been displaced multiple times over the past 22 months and aid groups are warning that the enclave’s residents are on the verge of famine.
“Where should we go? We have been displaced and humiliated enough,” said Aya Mohammad, 30, who, after repeated displacement, has returned with her family to their community in Gaza City.
“You know what displacement is? Does the world know? It means your dignity is wiped out, you become a homeless beggar, searching for food, water and medicine,” she told Reuters.
Netanyahu is under intense international pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement, but he also faces internal pressure from within his coalition to continue the war.
Some far-right allies in his government have advocated a full occupation of Gaza and for Israel to re-establish settlements there, two decades after it withdrew.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters Wednesday that he hoped the government would approve the military taking control over the rest of Gaza.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken to Gaza in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which said 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Andrew Heavens, Frances Kerry and Hugh Lawson)
