Israel plans to take military control of the whole of the Gaza Strip before handing it over to armed forces, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
The leader said that Israel does not want to 'keep' or 'govern' the territory, but wants to hand it over to armed forces who will 'govern it properly', according to comments made in a Fox News interview.
'We intend to,' Netanyahu said when asked if Israel would take control of the entire 26-mile strip.
'We don't want to keep it. 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.'
It comes as Netanyahu is expected to hold a meeting with security officials to discuss a possible expansion of Israel's military operation in Gaza after the breakdown of ceasefire talks last month.
