News - Middle East: Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the regime plans to "take control of all" of the Gaza Strip, as his military launched a newly expanded offensive in the besieged territory.

In a video posted to his Telegram channel, Netanyahu said "The fighting is intense and we are making progress. We will take control of all the territory of the Strip."

"We will not give up,” he added, noting that the regime “must act in a way that cannot be stopped" in order to achieve this goal.

He noted that the decision to allow a small number of aid trucks into Gaza later on Monday, the first in nearly two months, was made to avoid international backlash.

“We must not let the population of Gaza sink into famine, both for practical and diplomatic reasons,” he said.

Netanyahu revealed that close allies, including pro-Israel US senators, had called on him to allow some aid to avoid images of mass starvation, which could undermine international support.

“Our best friends in the world, senators who are passionate supporters of Israel, came to me and said they would provide all the assistance needed to achieve victory: weapons, backing for eliminating Hamas, and protection at the UN Security Council,” Netanyahu said.

“But there’s one thing they said they cannot support: images of mass starvation. ‘We cannot stand by you in that situation,’ they told me. So, in order to achieve victory, we must address that problem,” he added.

Backing Netanyahu's decision, far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said it will allow “our friends in the world to continue to provide us with an international umbrella of protection against the Security Council and the Hague Court."

Israel launched the campaign of genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023. It has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians there so far, according to the health ministry of Gaza.

In January, the Israeli regime was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas given the regime’s failure to achieve any of its objectives, including the “elimination” of the Palestinian resistance movement or the release of captives.

The 42-day stage of the truce, which was marred by repeated Israeli violations, expired on March 1, but Israel is refraining from stepping into talks for the second stage of the agreement.

On March 18, the regime resumed the strikes on Gaza, breaking the nearly two-month-long ceasefire.

Source: Press TV