Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel intends to occupy the Gaza Strip in order to establish a future civilian administration free from Hamas influence.
“We intend (to take control of Gaza) to ensure our security, remove Hamas from there, allow the population to be free and hand it over to a civilian administration that is not Hamas and not someone who advocates the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said when asked in an interview with FOX News if Israel would take control of Gaza.
He said the goal was not to rule the enclave permanently, but to remove Hamas and allow for a different local government, supported by regional Arab partners.
Asked if Israel would reoccupy the entire 42-kilometer territory, as it did before withdrawing in 2005, Netanyahu replied: “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter.”
“We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and that will provide a good life for the people of Gaza,” he added.
Israel is facing growing internal resentment over its destructive war in Gaza, where more than 61,000 people have been killed since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide charge before the International Court of Justice over its war in the enclave.
