\n<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s security cabinet has approved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s proposal to occupy Gaza City, located in the north of the Palestinian enclave, according to news reports.<\/p>\n
The Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office has yet to publicly confirm the plan, which is a major escalation in the war-torn Palestinian territory and was first reported by the news site Axios on Friday.<\/p>\n
Axios reporter Barak Ravid quoted the prime minister\u2019s office as saying: \u201cThe Political-Security Cabinet approved the Prime Minister\u2019s proposal to defeat Hamas. The [Israeli military] will prepare to take over Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel would \u201ctake control of all Gaza\u201d in a television interview with American outlet Fox News.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu also said in the interview that Israel doesn\u2019t want to be \u201ca governing body\u201d in Gaza and would hand over responsibility to an unspecified third party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don\u2019t want to govern it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This followed reports in Israeli media earlier this week that the Israeli leader would imminently announce plans to fully occupy the entirety of the Gaza Strip<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision has been made [to occupy Gaza],\u201d Israel\u2019s Channel 12 news outlet reported on Monday, quoting an unnamed senior official in Netanyahu\u2019s office.<\/p>\n This is a breaking news story. More information to follow soon. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n