- Netanyahu plans for Israel to take military control of all Gaza.
- He aims to establish a security perimeter, not govern Gaza directly.
- Hamas calls it a coup; Arab countries emphasize Palestinian agreement.
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that 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 Channel's Bill Hemmer 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 Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it. He did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.
Netanyahu made the comments to Fox News shortly before 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 another meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.
Two government sources said any resolution by the security cabinet would need to be approved by the full cabinet, which may not meet until Sunday.
Among the scenarios being considered ahead of the security meeting was a phased takeover of areas in Gaza not yet under military control, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Evacuation warnings could be issued to Palestinians in specific areas of Gaza, potentially giving them several weeks before the military moves in, the person added.
Total control of the territory would reverse a 2005 decision by Israel by which it withdrew Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities. Right-wing parties blame that withdrawal decision for the militant Palestinian group Hamas gaining power there in a 2006 election.
It was unclear whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged takeover or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages.
Hamas, in a statement, called Netanyahu's comments "a blatant coup" against the negotiation process.
"Netanyahu's plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he seeks to get rid of his captives and sacrifice them," the statement said.
Arab countries would "only support what Palestinians agree and decide on," a Jordanian official source told Reuters, adding that security in Gaza should be handled through "legitimate Palestinian institutions."
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera the group would treat any force formed to govern Gaza as an "occupying" force linked to Israel.
Earlier this year, Israel and the United States rejected an Egyptian proposal, backed by Arab leaders, that envisaged the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the war.
Opinion polls show most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump declined on Tuesday to say whether he supported or opposed a potential full military takeover of Gaza by Israel.
Netanyahu's government has insisted on total victory over Hamas, which ignited the war when it staged a deadly October 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza.
The U.N. has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza "deeply alarming" if true.
The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu's coalition, of Israeli forces moving into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has also generated alarm in Israel.
