Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel intends to establish full military control over the Gaza Strip.
“We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it to civilian governance,” Netanyahu told Fox News. “That is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel. That’s what we want to do.”
He reiterated that Israel seeks to “liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas.”
When asked by Fox News’ Bill Hemmer if Israel will “take control of the entire 26-mile Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu asserted that Israel is focused on a “security perimeter.”
“We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body,” he said. “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.”
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča said this week that plans to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip are “deeply alarming,” arguing it would “risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza.”
In response to Netanyahu’s comments, Hamas said Israel’s actions “represent a clear reversal of the course of negotiations and clearly reveal the true motives behind his withdrawal from the final round.”
Trump administration officials recently convened in the Gaza Strip to review food distribution centers as civilian casualties mount near aid sites. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the trip on July 31, saying, “Special Envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee will be traveling into Gaza to inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear first-hand about this dire situation on the ground.”
