Netanyahu outlined the future of the occupied Gaza Strip

Israel may be “responsible for the security” of Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the end of the war with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israel could rule Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the end of the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested in an interview with American television channel ABC News.

Noting that US President Joe Biden had previously said Israel’s occupation of Gaza would be a “mistake”, interviewer David Muir asked Netanyahu who should govern the Palestinian enclave when fighting ends.

While Biden has strongly backed Netanyahu’s war against Hamas, the two leaders have disagreed on tactics, including efforts to prevent civilian casualties and the need for pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid to arrive, Al Jazeera noted.

Prime Minister Netanyahu suggested that Israel would have a role to play for an “unspecified period,” The Guardian writes.

“Those who do not want to continue the path of Hamas… This is certainly not the case – I think that Israel will, for an indefinite period, bear overall responsibility for security, because we have seen what happens when we do not have it. When we don’t have that responsibility for security, all we have is a surge in Hamas terror on a scale we could never have imagined,” the Israeli prime minister said.

As The Guardian recalls, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month that one of the key goals of Israel’s military campaign is to remove “Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” and establish “a new security reality for Israeli citizens.”

Some US figures have also suggested that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, could take responsibility in Gaza, while others have suggested that a consortium of Arab states could take responsibility, The Guardian writes.

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “What we support is that Hamas can no longer control Gaza. We are in discussions with our Israeli counterparts about what governance in Gaza should look like in a post-conflict period, and I do not believe that any solutions have been found one way or the other.”

On Monday, Netanyahu repeated that he would not agree to a ceasefire until Hamas releases its captives in Gaza, but signaled his openness to “small tactical pauses” to allow the movement of people and aid.

“There will be no ceasefire in Gaza, no general ceasefire, without the release of our hostages. As for tactical small pauses, an hour here, an hour there, we have had them before,” Netanyahu said. “I believe we will check the circumstances to allow goods, humanitarian aid to arrive or our hostages, individual hostages to leave.” But I don’t think there will be a general ceasefire.”

Biden pressed Netanyahu to agree to “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to the enclave, but supported the Israeli leader’s opposition to a full ceasefire.

On Monday, the Israeli military said it had “coordinated” with Jordan to airlift urgent medical supplies and food to a Jordanian field hospital in the enclave.

At least 10,022 Palestinians, including more than 4,100 children, have been killed in Gaza during the month-long war, according to the Hamas-ruled enclave’s health ministry.

Netanyahu said Monday that the death of any civilian was a “tragedy,” but disputed the reported death toll, saying it included “several thousand” Palestinian fighters. The Israeli leader also accused Hamas of using the Gaza population as human shields. “This is a very cruel enemy, but we cannot allow them to have immunity,” he said.

As Al Jazeera notes, Israel is under growing international pressure to stop its bombing of Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas attacks on October 7, which Israeli officials say killed at least 1,405 people, mostly civilians. residents. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an urgent ceasefire, warning that the Palestinian enclave had become a “graveyard for children.”