Netanyahu wants expand IDF

Tel Aviv (dpa) — Israel wants to expand its military control over the Gaza Strip to 70%, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to a speech recorded by Channel 12 and published on Thursday.

Netanyahu said the army currently controlled 60% and that his directive is to expand this to 70%. He made his comments at a conference.

Responding to an audience member who said Israel should take 100%, Netanyahu replied, according to the newspaper Times of Israel, that he would proceed “step by step,” with 70% the current goal.

But he did not dispute that a complete takeover could take place.

Netanyahu wants expand IDF

When the US-mediated ceasefire entered into force in October 2025, the area under Israeli control stood at 53% of the territory.

The Palestinian territory covers an area of around 365 square kilometres, about the size of Munich.

Israel and the Islamist Hamas militia accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. Hamas is demanding a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. It refuses to agree to a verifiable disarmament and to enable a civilian transition in Gaza.

Nikolay Mladenov, the high Representative of the Gaza Peace Council appointed by US President Donald Trump, warned the UN Security Council in New York last week that without Hamas disarmament and given the ongoing violations of the ceasefire, the “deteriorating situation” in the Gaza Strip threatened to become permanent. Funding for reconstruction would not come as long as the weapons were not laid down.