TEL AVIV: Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel has no plans to occupy Gaza or expel its Palestinian residents.
Netanyahu in a video statement said Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its population.
His statement contradicts extremist cabinet members who have repeatedly called for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
According to the health ministry in Gaza the death toll from the relentless Israeli bombardment has now reached at 23,357, mostly women and children.
The toll includes 147 deaths in the past 24 hours alone, and 59,410 people have been wounded since October 7, turning the besieged territory into ruins.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel is fighting only Hamas resistance group and not the Palestinian people.
Nearly 85 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced from their homes due to Israeli bombardment and invasion.
READ ALSO: Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 23,357 as Israel Keeps Bombing Palestinian Territory
A large number of Gaza residents face starvation, with only a trickle of food, water, medicine and other supplies entering through an Israeli siege.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, where Abbas emphasized the need to halt Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Global concern over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has risen, prompting Blinken to urge steps to alleviate suffering.
