Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025. ABIR SULTAN / AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out his vision for victory in Gaza during a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, August 10, following a wave of criticism at home and abroad over his plans to expand the war. Netanyahu said the military had been given the greenlight to “dismantle” two remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and Al Mawasi further to the south.
Read more Gaza: Stopping Benjamin Netanyahu’s tragic escalation
“We have about 70 to 75 percent of Gaza under Israeli control, military control. But we have two remaining strongholds, OK? These are Gaza City and the central camps in Al Mawasi,” Netanyahu told reporters. “Israel’s security cabinet, instructed the IDF to dismantle the two remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the central camps,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.
“This is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,” claimed the prime minister. Netanyahu said the operations were aimed to be done on a short timetable but offered few specifics on how long exactly the offensive would take. “I don’t want to talk about exact timetables, but we’re talking in terms of a fairly short timetable because we want to bring the war to an end,” he said.
When asked about the rise in criticism from foreign governments in recent days, including by staunch ally Germany which announced plans to suspend arms shipments, Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to go it alone, if needed. “We will win the war, with or without the support of others,” he told reporters.
Read more European ministers slam Israel’s Gaza control plan
The prime minister said civilians would be given the opportunity to evacuate from “combat zones” ahead of operations and provided with a safe corridor to leave the areas. “We will do so by first enabling the civilian population to safely leave the combat areas to designated safe zones,” he said. “In these safe zones, they’ll be given ample food, water, and medical care,” he claimed. “And again, contrary to false claims, our policy throughout the war has been to prevent a humanitarian crisis, while Hamas’s policy has been to create it.”
The premier’s office later said he had spoken by phone with US President Donald Trump to discuss the new military plans.
More Palestinians killed as they seek aid in Gaza
At least 26 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid in the Gaza Strip, hospitals and witnesses said, as families of Israeli hostages called for a general strike to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to expand military operations in the territory.
Displaced Palestinians carry food parcels as they raid trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on August 9, 2025. – / AFP
Hospital officials said they received bodies from areas where Palestinians were seeking aid – either along food convoy routes or near privately run aid distribution points across Gaza. The dead include 10 who were killed while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor which separates the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, said Nasser hospital.
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A further six people were killed while waiting for aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Shifa hospital in Gaza City which received the casualties.
Read more Subscribers only Israel: Families of hostages call for general strike next Sunday
Israel’s plan risks ‘another calamity,’ says UN
A UN official on Sunday warned the Security Council that Israel’s plans to control Gaza City risked “another calamity” with far-reaching consequences as Netanyahu insisted his goal was not to occupy the territory.
The UN Security Council held a rare emergency weekend meeting after Israel said its military would “take control” of Gaza City. “If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” UN Assistant Secretary Miroslav Jenca told the UNSC.
Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN Samuel Zbogar, speaking on behalf of the five European members of the Security Council ahead of the meeting, said “this decision by the Israeli government will do nothing to secure the return of the hostages and risk further endangering their lives.” “It will also worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and risk further death and mass displacement of Palestinian civilians.”
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Friday that “this escalation by the Israeli government is going in total contradiction to the will of the international community.”
The United States, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, is likely to seek to shield its staunch ally Israel from any practical measure of UN censure.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said ahead of the meeting “Israel will not stop fighting for the release of all the hostages – and ensuring the safety and security of our citizens is our duty.”
