Netanyahu: Israel intends to control all of Gaza before handing it to 'Arab forces'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the Israeli military will begin a new offensive in Gaza with the goal of controlling the entire Gaza Strip, before ultimately handing it over to Arab forces to govern the enclave.

“We intend to [take control of all of Gaza],” Netanyahu said in an interview on Fox News ahead of a significant security Cabinet meeting set for Thursday night. “We don’t want to keep Gaza. We want a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us.”