Benjamin Netanyahu suggests in an interview that Israel will have a greater role in Gaza after a possible end to the war. – I think Israel will, for an indefinite period of time, have an overall responsibility for security. When we are not responsible for it, an outbreak of Hamas terror occurs on a scale we could not imagine, says the prime minister to ABC. He says there will also not be any kind of ceasefire without the hostages Hamas took on 7 October being released. – When it comes to tactical breaks, an hour here and an hour there. We’ve had them before. But I don’t think there will be an overarching ceasefire, says Netanyahu. On Monday, Hamas-controlled authorities reported that 10,022 people had been killed since Israel began airstrikes on Gaza. On the Israeli side, over 1,400 were killed when Hamas attacked on 7 October. – Good plan for Israel Both Israel and Hamas have resisted stopping the hostilities. Israel has insisted that the hostages must be released, and Hamas has said that this will not happen while Gaza is under attack. Statements from Hamas-controlled authorities have not been confirmed from other sources. The UN has pointed out that the Ministry of Health’s figures have been reliable in previous wars. Netanyahu has not yet commented on what concrete steps Israel will take to have the overall responsibility for security in the Gaza Strip. – I don’t think he himself knows what he means. Israel was so caught off guard by the Hamas attack that they now have no clear exit plan, says UiO professor and Prio researcher Hilde Henriksen Waage. Israel has retaliated against Hamas’ terrorist attack on Saturday 7 October. Here from a rocket attack on Gaza on the same day. Photo: Fatima Shbair / AP She believes that Israel does not wish to occupy the Gaza Strip again, but that through responsibility for security they will probably acquire a larger buffer zone against Israel north of Gaza City. This means that over 2 million Palestinians will have their area restricted. Palestinians walk in the ruins of a house in Rafah that has been bombed by Israeli forces. Photo: Hatem Ali / AP – If you believe that Palestinians do not have human rights, economic, political or democratic rights, this is a good plan for Israel, says Henriksen Waage. Still not agreed at the UN On Monday, the Security Council met again to discuss the Gaza war. After a two-hour long meeting, the 15 countries still did not agree on the wording of a resolution. While the US wants “humanitarian pauses”, many other countries are demanding “humanitarian ceasefires” to bring in much-needed aid and prevent more civilian casualties in Gaza. – We talked about humanitarian pauses, and we are interested in going ahead with that language, but there is disagreement in the council as to whether it is acceptable, says the US’s UN ambassador Robert Wood. The UN Security Council met again on Monday to discuss the Gaza war. Here the members vote in a meeting on 16 October. Photo: ANDREW KELLY / Reuters The closed meeting was the sixth since the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October. The five permanent members of the Insurance Council have veto power. In practice, a resolution cannot be adopted unless all five are in agreement.
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