Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was not seeking to conquer, occupy or rule Gaza after the war against Hamas, but a "credible force" would be needed to enter the Palestinian territory if necessary to prevent any threats from the group's fighters.
Netanyahu's comments this week suggesting that Israel would be in charge of security in Gaza indefinitely, drew a pushback from the United States, Israel's main ally.
Washington said it would oppose Israel's post-war occupation of the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging a bombing campaign to destroy the enclave's ruling Hamas, after militants rampaged through southern Israeli municipalities on October 7 in an attack that Israel said killed 1,400 people. .
Netanyahu told US Fox News: "We do not seek to conquer Gaza, we do not seek to occupy Gaza and we do not seek to rule Gaza."
Netanyahu said a civilian government would have to be formed in Gaza, but Israel would make sure an attack like the one on October 7 would not happen again.
"That's why we need to have credible forces that, if necessary, will go into Gaza and kill the killers. Because that's what will prevent the re-emergence of an entity like Hamas," Netanyahu said.
According to Gaza health services, Israeli bombing has killed more than 10,800 Palestinians. A humanitarian disaster has unfolded as essential supplies are lacking and injured people are overwhelming the fragile medical system.
US officials say the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should return to rule Gaza after the war. In 2007, Hamas seized control of Gaza from the PA forces of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Senior Palestinian officials, including Abbas, say the PA's return to Gaza must be accompanied by a political solution to end the occupation of the territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Netanyahu said that after the war, "what we need to see is a demilitarized, deradicalized and rebuilt Gaza"./BGNES
