Israeli security cabinet discusses plan to fully occupy Gaza
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 August 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with his security cabinet and says he wants a complete military takeover of the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City. The Israeli leader believes a full takeover is “the only way” to destroy Hamas and free the remaining Israeli hostages.
Also on the programme: reports that Sudan’s military destroyed a UAE plane carrying Colombian mercenaries; and a tribute to the pioneering Latin-jazz musician Eddie Palmieri, who has died aged 88.
(Photo: A damaged Israeli flag stands in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Gaza, 7th August, 2025. Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesb. |
| 0:09.9 | Later on in the programme, we'll be hearing some good news about a treatment for the bubonic plague, |
| 0:15.6 | also a tribute to Eddie Palmyeri known as the Beethoven of Salsa, who has died at the age of 88, |
| 0:22.7 | and also why Superman is becoming Iceman. |
| 0:26.4 | But first, let's begin today in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still, we think, |
| 0:32.9 | in a special meeting with his security cabinet. |
| 0:36.3 | He says he wants a complete military takeover of the |
| 0:39.6 | whole of the Gaza Strip beginning with Gaza City. Large parts of Gaza are already under operational |
| 0:45.9 | control of the Israeli defence forces, but Mr Nessiniahu says a full takeover is the only way |
| 0:52.3 | to destroy Hamas and free the remaining hostages. |
| 0:56.2 | Here he is explaining his idea on Fox News earlier. |
| 1:00.0 | Will Israel take control of all of Gaza? |
| 1:03.4 | We intend to. |
| 1:05.2 | In order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance. |
| 1:15.5 | That is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel. |
| 1:20.3 | That's got to end. |
| 1:21.6 | Are you saying today that you will take control of the entire 26-mile Gaza Strip, as it was 20 years ago to this month in 2005. |
| 1:32.1 | Well, we don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. |
| 1:36.8 | We don't want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us |
| 1:48.0 | and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas. Well, there are many who are |
| 1:53.2 | against this plan. The United Nations and many aid organizations say it will just exacerbate the |
| 1:59.3 | suffering of civilians. But one of those most publicly against the planate the suffering of civilians. |
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