Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday, November 7, that Israel will indefinitely take control of “overall security” in Gaza after the war. Hamas, however, declared that it would never accept a puppet government in the Palestinian enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday that Israel would take control of “overall security” of besieged Gaza after the war, as the Gaza-run health ministry said the death toll had surpassed 10,000 people.

Resisting calls for a ceasefire, Netanyahu said there would be no letup in the war to destroy Hamas, whose October 7 attack left 1,400 dead in Israel, most of them civilians.

One month into the war, the Gaza-run health ministry said the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 10,000 people — more than 4,000 of them children.

With international criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war mounting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children.”

More than 1.5 million people in densely packed Gaza have fled their homes for other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover, with critical aid only trickling in.

Overall Security Control of Gaza

Netanyahu told ABC News that the war would continue until Israel had restored “overall security” control of Gaza.

“Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibility,” he said.

“When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after the White House said the Israeli leader had discussed potential “tactical pauses” in a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Monday.

But no agreements were announced and the pair did not broach the possibility of a ceasefire.

While the United States, a key Israeli ally,  is seeking a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting, several countries and UN agencies have repeatedly called for a ceasefire.

“There will be no ceasefire — general ceasefire — in Gaza, without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.

Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005. A year later, Hamas won elections in Gaza, and subsequently seized control of the territory in 2007.

Opposition Leader Sides With AP

For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid declared on Tuesday morning that the Palestinian Authority must take control of the Gaza Strip after the war, but only under the supervision of Israeli security forces.

The President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, has not ruled out taking control of the Gaza Strip.

The Fatah party, led by Abbas, dominates the Palestinian Authority but only has limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested last week that the PA should regain control of Gaza after the war, and visited the West Bank to meet Abbas on Sunday.

But Hamas said they would never accept a puppet government in Gaza and that “no force on Earth could annihilate” it, as per Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon.

Malo Pinatel, with AFP