Israel vows to occupy Gaza to clear out Hamas terrorists and then hand it over to Arab forces
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was 'well on our way' to ensuring Gaza 'doesn't pose a threat to Israel again'.
He told Fox News: 'We intend to, in order to ensure our security, remove Hamas there, 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.'
Mr Netanyahu added: 'We want to have a security perimeter.
"We don't want to govern it.
"We don't want to be there as a governing body.'
He said Israel wants to 'hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and giving the Gazans a good life.'
The Israeli military says it already has operational control of 75 per cent of the Gaza Strip, while the United Nations has said around 87 per cent is under Israeli military control or subject to evacuation orders.
US ambassador Mike Huckabee insisted it was up to the Israeli government to decide if they want to annex Gaza.
He said he would not 'tell them what they should or shouldn't do'.
But Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid warned Mr Netanyahu's proposal to take over Gaza would lead to 'another war' and 'more dead hostages'.
Israel plans NEW Gaza assault after horrifying clip of emaciated Israeli hostage 'digging own grave'
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