Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday that Israel will take full control of the entire Gaza Strip after eliminating the terrorist group Hamas.
Netanyahu’s announcement comes as the war in Gaza intensifies amid international pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement.
From The Wall Street Journal:
Netanyahu said Israel doesn’t plan to hold on to Gaza and would transfer control of the territory to “Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and giving Gazans a good life,” he said in an interview with Fox News. He said Israel would keep what he called a security perimeter around the enclave.
“We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” Netanyahu said in the interview just before his cabinet gathered to vote on the new war plan.
The decision comes after a monthslong operation in Gaza that failed to advance Israel’s aims of freeing the hostages still held in Gaza or pressuring Hamas to surrender.
Netanyahu didn’t discuss further specifics of the plan, but Israeli security analysts familiar with its outlines said it would likely begin with the displacement of the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza city and a weekslong effort to set up aid distribution infrastructure, new living spaces and medical services. Israel’s military could then move toward areas of central Gaza where it has rarely operated throughout the 22 months of war, essentially displacing Gaza’s entire civilian population.
Israel hopes the new pressure will bring Hamas back to the negotiating table on its terms and could pause the operation at any point, the security analysts said.
In an appearance on Fox News, Netanyahu stressed that Israel’s objective is to “remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it to civilian governance. That is not Hamas, and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.”
“We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” he added.
The prime minister pointed out that many Palestinians are fighting back against Hamas “because finally they see that they have a future. They can rid themselves of this awful tyranny that not only hold our hostages, but holds two million Palestinians in Gaza hostage.”
'WE INTEND TO': Israeli prime minister @netanyahu tells FOX News' @BillHemmer that Israel is aiming to take control of Gaza in order to liberate its people from the grips of Hamas and end the threat of the terror regime against his country. pic.twitter.com/lxQkYKHEB8
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 7, 2025
It is not yet clear to whom Israel would transfer control of Gaza after Israel meets its military objectives in the region. Previously, President Donald Trump floated the idea of having the United States take control of the area while moving Palestinian residents to other countries like Egypt or Jordan.