Netanyahu confirms plans to occupy entire Gaza Strip

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel intends to take full military control of the Gaza Strip before handing over governing responsibilities to Arab forces.

- BEL TREW

The Israeli prime minister spoke to Fox News’ Bill Hemmer ahead of a key security cabinet meeting to decide whether to order a full military occupation of the wartorn strip - a move that UN officials have said would have “catastrophic consequences”.

When asked if Israel would take control of the entire 26-mile strip, Mr Netanyahu said on Wednesday: “We intend to.”

“We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” he continued. “We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body.”

He said that Israel instead wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it, although it remains unclear who would take on the role.

Hamas has said that Mr Netanyahu’s statements “confirm that he seeks to get rid of his prisoners and sacrifice them to serve his personal interests and extremist ideological agendas”.

They added: “We affirm that Gaza will remain resistant to the occupation and attempts to impose guardianship over it.

“Expanding the aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park, and the price will be heavy and costly for the occupation...” Meanwhile, a Jordanian official told Reuters that Arabs would “only support what Palestinians agree and decide on,” affirming that “security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions”.