Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an indefinite period after its war with Hamas.
In an interview with ABC News that aired late on Monday, Netanyahu expressed openness to “little pauses” in the fighting to facilitate the release of some of the more than 240 captives seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which triggered the war one month ago.
However, he ruled out any general ceasefire without the release of all the hostages, while the White House said there was no agreement with US President Joe Biden’s call for a broader humanitarian pause after a telephone call between the leaders on Monday.
Photo: Reuters
Netanyahu told ABC News that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas.”
“I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility, because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it,” he said. “When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.”
Israeli troops have been battling Palestinian militants inside Gaza for more than a week and have cut the territory in half and encircled Gaza City.
Airstrikes have leveled entire city blocks across the territory and about 70 percent of the population have fled their homes, with many heeding Israeli orders to head to the southern part of the territory.
Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and UN-run shelters are overflowing.
Israel is focused on Gaza City, which before the war was home to about 650,000 people.
Jerusalem says that Hamas has extensive militant infrastructure in the city, including a vast tunnel network, and accuses it of using civilians as human shields.
Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault’s path.
The military said that a one-way corridor for residents of Gaza City and surrounding areas to flee south remains available.
Residents in northern Gaza reported heavy battles overnight into yesterday morning in the outskirts of Gaza City.
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