Netanyahu says he wants to hand over Gaza to a civilian government

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel "will not annex the Gaza Strip" and that a government agency, about which he did not provide further details, will temporarily control the Palestinian enclave.

Netanyahu's statements, reported by Israeli media, were made at a press conference with Indian journalists following a meeting with New Delhi's ambassador to Israel, hours before the security cabinet meeting on the new stages of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

In the same vein, the head of the Israeli government gave an interview to the American television network Fox News, in which he said that Israel wants to expand the offensive to the entire Gaza Strip to hand it over to a “ civilian government ” other than Hamas.

"We don't want to keep [the Gaza Strip]. We want to establish a security perimeter, but we don't want to govern it. We want to ensure our security and remove Hamas from it, allow the people of Gaza to liberate themselves, and hand over control to a civilian government that is not Hamas and that does not advocate the destruction of Israel," the Israeli prime minister responded when asked if the country intended to take control of the entire Palestinian territory.

FOX: Will Israel take control of all of Gaza?

NETANYAHU: We intend to pic.twitter.com/7fXkcbPeoy

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2025

The Palestinian Islamist movement warned the Israeli prime minister on Thursday that expanding the current offensive in Gaza “will not be easy” and will involve “paying a heavy price,” with more casualties among Israeli soldiers.

The warning was issued in a statement by Hamas after Netanyahu confirmed his intention to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. "What war criminal Netanyahu is planning is to continue his strategy of genocide and forced displacement of civilians , committing further crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," the statement read.

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Furthermore, for Hamas, Netanyahu's announcement that the governance of the Gaza Strip will be handled by "Arab forces", without the presence of Hamas, "represents a clear change of direction in the negotiations" towards a ceasefire agreement.

"Netanyahu's plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he wants to rid himself of his prisoners (referring to the hostages) and sacrifice them to serve his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda. We affirm that Gaza will maintain its resistance to the occupation and attempts to impose trusteeship over it," the Palestinian group, in power in the enclave since 2007, assured.

Of the 251 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by Hamas and its allies in the unprecedented attack carried out on Israeli territory, 49 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, 27 of whom were declared dead by the Israeli army.