Gaza to be governed by Arab force, says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday 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 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.

Netanyahu made his comments to Fox News before the outcome of 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 a 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.

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.

Netanyahu's government has insisted on total victory over Hamas, which ignited the war with its deadly October 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza.

Israeli leaders have long insisted that Hamas be disarmed and have no future role in a demilitarised Gaza and that the hostages be freed.

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.