Even if Hamas agrees to a truce, Israel is determined to maintain control over Gaza.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea_ Follow-ups: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his government would continue to control Gaza "even if Hamas agrees to a ceasefire agreement at the last minute," stressing that the military operation in the sector "is nearing its end." In an interview with "Sky News Australia," Netanyahu said that "even if Hamas agrees to the agreement, Israel will control Gaza" in order to "eliminate the remaining saboteurs and achieve security," as he put it. He added that "the war could end today if Hamas lays down its weapons and releases the remaining hostages." Netanyahu continued: "Our goal is to release all the hostages and disarm Hamas. Eliminating the last stronghold of the movement is necessary to achieve lasting peace." The Israeli Prime Minister said that "his goal is not to occupy Gaza, but to give it and Israel a different future, and I think we are close to achieving that." In the same context, Netanyahu said that US President Donald Trump "fully supports our military goal of controlling the city of Gaza in order to eliminate Hamas, and we will do so anyway." He added: "There was never any doubt that we would not leave Hamas there. I think President Trump expressed it best when he said that Hamas must disappear from Gaza." Netanyahu stressed that "eliminating the last stronghold of Hamas is necessary to achieve lasting peace, for both Israelis and Palestinians," noting that "the war is about to end." He added: "Contrary to media reports, the goal is not to occupy Gaza. The goal is to liberate Gaza, liberate it from the tyranny of Hamas, liberate Israel and others from the terrorism of Hamas, and give Gaza and Israel a different future," as he put it. On Thursday, residents in Gaza City said that the Israeli army continued to put pressure on the city with heavy shelling overnight, before a meeting between Netanyahu and government ministers on a plan to control the largest city in the sector. On Wednesday, the Israeli army called up 60,000 reserve soldiers, in a sign that the government is proceeding with the implementation of the plan despite international condemnation. But a military official said that most of the reserve soldiers would not participate in the fighting, and that the strategy to control Gaza City has not yet been finalized.