The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says that Israel will take over control of the besieged Gaza’s “overall security” after the war.
The Israeli leader told ABC News on Monday that the war will continue until Israel restores overall security control in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel will have overall security responsibility for an indefinite period. If we don’t accept that security responsibility, we have the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale we couldn’t imagine.”
Netanyahu was referring to the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, which claimed the lives of 1,400 people. The majority of the victims were civilians.
Netanyahu’s comments on overall security responsibility come after the White House announced that the Israeli leader had discussed possible “tactical pauses” in a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Monday.
The US, Israel’s most important ally, is calling for a humanitarian pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while several other countries and UN agencies have repeated calls for a ceasefire.
“There will be no ceasefire – general ceasefire – in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu emphasized again on Monday.
“As for tactical small breaks – an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before. I suppose we will look at the circumstances for goods – humanitarian goods – to come in or for our hostages, individual hostages, to leave.”
The Israeli army, meanwhile, said it had hit Gaza in “significant” attacks on 450 targets in the space of 24 hours since Sunday morning. According to the army, Israeli troops are currently targeting Hamas commanders who are hiding in underground tunnels.
Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005 before Hamas won the elections in Gaza a year later. The militant group finally took control of the area in 2007.
However, the Fatah party of the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, at this stage only exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, suggested last week that the Palestinian Authority take control of Gaza after the war.
However, Hamas says it will never accept a puppet government in Gaza and that “no power on earth can destroy it”.
A total of 93 trucks carrying food, medicine and water crossed the Gaza border from Egypt on Monday. According to the UN, the emergency in Gaza is overwhelming.
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened on Monday to allow the evacuation of foreigners. The passage was closed for two days over the weekend due to a dispute over the passage of ambulances.
A convoy with four ambulances has since arrived in Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the Red Cross said on Monday.
