Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at a joint press conference with the country's Defense Minister Yoav Galant, said that the Israeli military had completely surrounded the northern Gaza Strip. His words are quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu added that Hamas had lost control of this part of the enclave. He also said that Israeli troops would remain in the Gaza Strip “as long as necessary. <…> To prevent terror from there.”
In addition, the Israeli Prime Minister rejected the idea of transferring power in the Gaza Strip after the war to the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank, led by Mahmoud Abbas.
“There will be no civil authority that teaches its children to hate Israel, kill Israelis, or destroy Israel. There cannot be a government that pays the families of murderers. There cannot be a government that did not condemn the [October 7] massacre 30 days later. There must be something else, but in any case under our security control. I stand by this and I am not going to give up,” Netanyahu said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a ground operation against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on October 27. This was in response to the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.