Asked in an interview with Fox News if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza”, Mr Netanyahu replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.”

The security cabinet would still need to approve such a decision.

“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” Mr Netanyahu said in the interview.

“We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”

The security cabinet has begun discussing a possible expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, a move that, if it happens, would come despite fierce opposition from many in Israel, including the families of hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

The meeting comes on a day when

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