Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza “for an indefinite period” after its war with Hamas and expressed openness to “little pauses” in the current fighting to facilitate the release of hostages. His comments, in an interview that aired late Monday (November 6) on ABC News, offered the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to maintain control over the territory that is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians. Netanyahu ruled out any general ceasefire without the release of the more than 240 captives seized by Hamas in its October 7 raid into Israel, but he said he was open to “tactical little pauses.” US President Joe Biden had raised the need for humanitarian pauses directly with Netanyahu on a call earlier on Monday (November 6), but no agreement was reached, the White House said. The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 10,000, including more than 4,100 children and 2,640 women, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the October 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday (November 1) under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas. Follow this space for more updates.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza “for an indefinite period” after its war with Hamas and expressed openness to “little pauses” in the current fighting to facilitate the release of hostages. His comments, in an interview that aired late Monday (November 6) on ABC News, offered the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to maintain control over the territory that is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians. Netanyahu ruled out any general ceasefire without the release of the more than 240 captives seized by Hamas in its October 7 raid into Israel, but he said he was open to “tactical little pauses.” US President Joe Biden had raised the need for humanitarian pauses directly with Netanyahu on a call earlier on Monday (November 6), but no agreement was reached, the White House said. The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 10,000, including more than 4,100 children and 2,640 women, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the October 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday (November 1) under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas. Follow this space for more updates.