Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar has said that Tel Aviv can take control of the entire Gaza Strip to eliminate Hamas and make sure the Palestinian group "can never attack again".

Given Hamas’ refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to complete the job and defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu said. He told the press that about 70–75 per cent of Gaza was already under Israeli military control,

Defending his plan in a press conference in Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu said the new operation would be implemented on "a fairly short timetable