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“We intend to,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory.
Netanyahu made the comments to Fox News overnight, shortly before a meeting he was due to have with a small group of senior ministers on the expansion of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Australia reacts to the plan
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash said Israel should comply with international law, but that the “operational tactics and how this war is conducted on the ground to bring it to an end is ultimately a matter for the Israeli government”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia is urging Israel not to “go down the path” of a full occupation of Gaza. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
The security cabinet session follows another meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.
A UN commission of inquiry found in 2022 the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was unlawful. Then-Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid disputed the claim.

Source: SBS News
Opinion polls show most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would result in the release of the remaining hostages.
The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition, of Israeli forces moving into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has also generated alarm in Israel.
Protesters demand an end to the war
“I’m here because I am sick and tired of this government. It’s ruined our life,” said 55-year-old Noa Starkman, a Jerusalem resident who was born in a southern Israeli community close to where Hamas attacked in October 2023.