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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel plans to take control of Gaza but ultimately hand over the responsibility of governing the enclave to Arab forces.
In an interview on Fox News in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israelis "intend to" take over Gaza "in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel."
He said Israel does not want to “keep” Gaza long term. “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. “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.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told CBS News that the Israeli government should make its own decisions about taking control of the Gaza Strip.
“It’s not our job to tell them what they should or should not do,” he said. “Certainly, if they ask for wisdom, counsel, advice, I’m sure the president would offer it. But ultimately, it’s the decision that the Israelis and only the Israelis can make.”
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said Thursday in an interview with Al Jazeera that any new steps the Israeli government takes in Gaza will not succeed.
“The Israeli occupation seeks to break the will of the Palestinian people through more bloodshed and destruction of homes,” he said. “But it will fail.”
On Monday, officials from Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he had decided to “occupy all of the Gaza Strip, including areas where hostages may be held.”
The statement was shared in Hebrew, and it used a term that can be translated to mean both “occupy” and “conquer.” Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request to clarify the intended definition.
New aerial photos of the Gaza Strip have laid bare the magnitude of the destruction in the enclave, showing row upon row of shattered buildings interspersed with mounds of rubble and huge tent encampments.
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The destruction in Gaza on Wednesday. Salah Malkawi / Getty Images
The images, which were captured by a Jordanian military aircraft during a recent aid airdrop over Gaza, come as Israel weighs expanding its military operation in the densely populated Palestinian territory ahead of a crucial security meeting Thursday.
It is not known what parts of Gaza are shown in the photos, which Salah Malkawi took Wednesday for Getty Images.
In one image, a tent village sits on a sandy patch of land. Bright blue tarps dot a sandy beige landscape full of rubble and brown and gray ruined structures. Here and there, flattened buildings fill entire city blocks.
Recent research from Israel’s Hebrew University, reported in Haaretz, estimates that 70% of all structures in Gaza have been made uninhabitable.
While Israel had fought numerous conflicts in Gaza since Hamas militants took over the enclave in 2007, the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, which killed 1,200 people led to 250 others’ being taken hostage, triggered a war of unprecedented ferocity in the territory.
Israel’s military operation has forced most of the territory’s residents to be displaced multiple times and killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to local health officials.
The world's leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has sounded the alarm that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is now unfolding in the Palestinian enclave.
Doctors Without Borders, a medical aid organization also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, said in a report Thursday that the aid distribution methods used by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had led to civilian deaths.
“The medical data is clear. This is not aid. It is orchestrated killing,” the report said.
With a ceasefire elusive and dozens of hostages still being held by militant groups in Gaza, Israel has been weighing expanding the military campaign.
Netanyahu held a three-hour “limited security discussion” Tuesday, according to his office, in which the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff presented different options for continuing the offensive in Gaza.
Netanyahu will convene his security Cabinet at 6:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET) Thursday to consider the options, an Israeli official told NBC News.
The Times of Israel reported that the Cabinet is expected to sign off on a phased plan that would initially focus on seizing the central area of Gaza City before it expanded aid distribution centers in coordination with the United States.
The operation could take place over up to five months, according to the report.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the hostages in Gaza, says more than 80% of Israelis want a comprehensive deal for the return of the hostages and an immediate end to the war.
“Six hundred and seventy days, almost two years since October 7th, and we keep hearing only promises,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.
Einav Tsangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Tsangauker, called on people to gather outside the Cabinet meeting Thursday to protest expanding the military operation.
"Anyone who talks about a comprehensive agreement doesn’t go conquering the Strip while putting hostages and soldiers in danger," she wrote on X.
Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, with just more than 20 believed to be alive as of late June, according to Netanyahu's office.
In an interview on Fox News in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israelis "intend to" take over Gaza "in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel."
He said Israel does not want to “keep” Gaza long term. “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. “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.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told CBS News that the Israeli government should make its own decisions about taking control of the Gaza Strip.
“It’s not our job to tell them what they should or should not do,” he said. “Certainly, if they ask for wisdom, counsel, advice, I’m sure the president would offer it. But ultimately, it’s the decision that the Israelis and only the Israelis can make.”
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said Thursday in an interview with Al Jazeera that any new steps the Israeli government takes in Gaza will not succeed.
“The Israeli occupation seeks to break the will of the Palestinian people through more bloodshed and destruction of homes,” he said. “But it will fail.”
On Monday, officials from Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he had decided to “occupy all of the Gaza Strip, including areas where hostages may be held.”
The statement was shared in Hebrew, and it used a term that can be translated to mean both “occupy” and “conquer.” Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request to clarify the intended definition.
New aerial photos of the Gaza Strip have laid bare the magnitude of the destruction in the enclave, showing row upon row of shattered buildings interspersed with mounds of rubble and huge tent encampments.
by Taboola
Sponsored Stories
https://home-backup-solar-generator.com
solar panel | Search AdsSingaporeans Are Unaware Of This Little-Known Benefit
https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/mindsg/seeking-support
Health Promotion Board
Is the pressure to do well making you stressed?
The images, which were captured by a Jordanian military aircraft during a recent aid airdrop over Gaza, come as Israel weighs expanding its military operation in the densely populated Palestinian territory ahead of a crucial security meeting Thursday.
It is not known what parts of Gaza are shown in the photos, which Salah Malkawi took Wednesday for Getty Images.
In one image, a tent village sits on a sandy patch of land. Bright blue tarps dot a sandy beige landscape full of rubble and brown and gray ruined structures. Here and there, flattened buildings fill entire city blocks.
Recent research from Israel’s Hebrew University, reported in Haaretz, estimates that 70% of all structures in Gaza have been made uninhabitable.
While Israel had fought numerous conflicts in Gaza since Hamas militants took over the enclave in 2007, the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, which killed 1,200 people led to 250 others’ being taken hostage, triggered a war of unprecedented ferocity in the territory.
Israel’s military operation has forced most of the territory’s residents to be displaced multiple times and killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to local health officials.
The world's leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has sounded the alarm that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is now unfolding in the Palestinian enclave.
Doctors Without Borders, a medical aid organization also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, said in a report Thursday that the aid distribution methods used by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had led to civilian deaths.
“The medical data is clear. This is not aid. It is orchestrated killing,” the report said.
With a ceasefire elusive and dozens of hostages still being held by militant groups in Gaza, Israel has been weighing expanding the military campaign.
Netanyahu held a three-hour “limited security discussion” Tuesday, according to his office, in which the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff presented different options for continuing the offensive in Gaza.
Netanyahu will convene his security Cabinet at 6:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET) Thursday to consider the options, an Israeli official told NBC News.
The Times of Israel reported that the Cabinet is expected to sign off on a phased plan that would initially focus on seizing the central area of Gaza City before it expanded aid distribution centers in coordination with the United States.
The operation could take place over up to five months, according to the report.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the hostages in Gaza, says more than 80% of Israelis want a comprehensive deal for the return of the hostages and an immediate end to the war.
“Six hundred and seventy days, almost two years since October 7th, and we keep hearing only promises,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.
Einav Tsangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Tsangauker, called on people to gather outside the Cabinet meeting Thursday to protest expanding the military operation.
"Anyone who talks about a comprehensive agreement doesn’t go conquering the Strip while putting hostages and soldiers in danger," she wrote on X.
Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, with just more than 20 believed to be alive as of late June, according to Netanyahu's office.
