JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intends to take military control of the entire Gaza.
Netanyahu made this decision amid increasingly intensive criticism at home and abroad over the nearly two-year war in the Palestinian enclave.
"We meant that," Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal area.
"We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to set it up. We don't want to be there as a government agency," Netanyahu continued.
He said Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab Army forces who would rule it.
Netanyahu made a statement to Fox News prior to the results of a meeting scheduled for Thursday with a small group of senior ministers to discuss the military's plans to control more territory in Gaza.
The security cabinet meeting follows a meeting this week with the military chief, described by Israeli officials as a tense meeting.
The military chief is said to have rejected the expansion of military operations.
The survey shows most Israelis want the war to end with a deal that will free the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants led by Hamas.
SEE ALSO:
-
| BERITA
Kamboja-Thailand Sepakat Libatkan Observer ASEAN Pastikan Gencatan Senjata Berlaku
07 Agustus 2025, 21:14
Netanyahu's government insists on winning an absolute victory over Hamas, which sparked the war with its October 2023 strike against Israel from Gaza.
The idea, primarily driven by far-right ministers in the Netanyahu coalition, of Israeli troops breaking into territory they are not yet in control of in the region has raised fears in Israel.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
