Netanyahu Demands Full Military Control Over Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel intends to establish full military control over the entirety of the Gaza Strip during a press conference on Monday.

The Israeli military already controls approximately 75% of the Gaza Strip, and Netanyahu has framed the push into Gaza City as a necessary step to eliminate Hamas.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 212 Palestinians have died from starvation since the war began in October 2023. Aid agencies report that medical supplies, food, and clean water are in dangerously short supply. The total Palestinian death toll has now surpassed 60,000, the ministry reports. In addition to the Palestinian death toll, 5 of 7 Al Jazeera journalists were killed in a strike against Gaza. In total, a number of 186 journalists have been killed since the war. Although Israel has closed off journalists from huge news outlets, such as the BBC, to protect journalists, many accuse Israel of trying to silence journalists.

On Thursday, Netanyahu appears on Fox News to clearly state that “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel. That’s what we want to do”. Further pointing out that he was not looking to destroy Israel, Netanyahu directly tells US President Donald Trump over a private phone call that Israeli citizens are not starving. He made this point after Trump claimed that he had seen pictures of Israeli children that looked extremely hungry. After later research by UNICEF, it was found that nearly 12,000 Israeli children were found to be extremely malnourished.

Later on, as Netanyahu was pressed to explain the starvation matter again by Trump, he blamed Hamas for the intense food and supply shortages. However, he continues to thank Trump for his ongoing support.

Others seem to believe that if this military offense were to come to an end, children would be well fed and citizens would not be faced with the possibility of death at any moment.

Extra Resources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1dxndnkq6yt

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/satellite-images-show-israel-building-forces-possible-ground-invasion-rcna223722

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/10/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-defends-gaza-city-plan-intl-latam-hnk