Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his security cabinet’s plan to take over Gaza is more expansive than previously announced, arguing on Monday that Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.”

Netanyahu’s office originally announced the takeover on Friday, but he now says the operations will include not only Gaza City but also in the “central camps” and Muwasi. The latter areas are home to well over 500,000 people. The Israeli prime minister says he has spoken with President Donald Trump about the plan and says he thanked him for America’s “steadfast support.”

“Our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza,” Netanyahu said Monday. His office says the goals behind the takeover are to fully root out Hamas everywhere in Gaza before stabilizing the region and eventually handing leadership off to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.

The Security Cabinet’s Friday announcement said it adopted, by vote, five principles for concluding the war which include: the disarming of Hamas, the return of all hostages – living and deceased – the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.

The prime minister said the situation there “has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.” He accused the Israeli government of continuing “to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces that Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at a press conference in Canberra, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025.  (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Meanwhile, the U.S. has continued to defend Israel against accusations of genocide at the United Nations. Other rival nations on the U.N. Security Council have been all too willing to criticize Israel, however, with China condemning the situation in Gaza as alleged “collective punishment,” and Russia calling it a “reckless intensification of hostilities” at a security meeting on Sunday.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report