"We will take over (occupy) all of the Gaza Strip. That's what we will do," Netanyahu said, defending his government's decision to allow very limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, after it had been banned since March 2.
Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice, considered the situation to require the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza as Israel continues its military offensive.
He added: "The pro-Israel senators come to me and say: We will give you all the help you need to win the war, weapons and support at the United Nations, but we cannot bear to see the pictures of mass starvation" in Gaza.
Netanyahu added that until aid distribution centers are established in southern Gaza, under Israeli military guard, his government will allow the entry of a "minimal" amount of aid to prevent mass starvation.
Ignoring the fact that famine has already occurred, he continued: "We must not reach a state of famine, otherwise we will not receive substantial and diplomatic support and be able to achieve victory (if that happens)."
Netanyahu continued, "We are creating an area under military control, where all residents of Gaza can receive food and medicine, and this is accompanied by massive military pressure."
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Army Radio claimed that Tel Aviv intended to allow nine trucks loaded with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip today, for the first time since March 2.
The Israeli army radio quoted Ghassan Alian, the coordinator of its activities in the Palestinian territories, as saying, "Nine trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including baby food, will enter the Gaza Strip via Israeli territory in the coming hours."
"Additional aid trucks are also expected to arrive later today, but this has not yet been finalized," the radio station's military correspondent, Daron Kadosh, said via Telegram.
He continued, "The trucks will travel into the Gaza Strip and are expected to reach the warehouses of international organizations, which will unload them and distribute them to the population."
Kadosh added that "in accordance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's directives, the army will make efforts to prevent Hamas from controlling the aid," he claimed.
He added, "However, military sources admit that there is no way to achieve this."
For the 79th day, Israel continues its policy of systematically starving approximately 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza by closing the crossings to aid, as part of a genocidal war that has been ongoing for the twentieth month.
With full American support, Israel has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 174,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.
Israel has been besieging Gaza for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians in the Strip homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination.
According to Hebrew media outlets, including the official broadcasting authority and the private Channel 12, the anticipated aid delivery comes under pressure and threats from the United States and Europe to impose sanctions on Israel.
On Sunday evening, Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "Israel will allow in a basic amount of food supplies for the (Palestinian) population to ensure that a famine crisis does not arise in Gaza."
The Broadcasting Authority quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that the entry of food supplies is a temporary measure, lasting approximately a week, until distribution centers are fully equipped, most of which are in the south and supervised by the Israeli army and operated by American companies.
Tel Aviv and Washington are promoting two aid distribution plans, with Israeli acknowledgement that they actually aim to empty the northern Gaza Strip of its residents by transforming the southern city of Rafah into a major aid distribution center and bringing aid seekers there.
The anticipated aid delivery confirms the inaccuracy of Netanyahu's announcement a few days ago that Hamas's release of Israeli-American soldier Idan Alexander last Monday, in a separate agreement with the United States, was unconditional.
While Hamas's claim that Alexander's release came as part of "understandings" with Washington that included the delivery of aid confirms the validity of the claim.
On Thursday, the movement said in a statement: "As part of Hamas's commitment to alleviating the suffering of our people by halting the aggression and opening the crossings to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, the positive initiative came with the release of the captive soldier Idan Alexander."
She added, "We expect, based on the understandings reached with the American side, and with the knowledge of the mediators, that humanitarian aid will begin entering the Gaza Strip immediately, and that there will be a call for a permanent ceasefire and comprehensive negotiations."
Indeed, the Qatari capital, Doha, is currently witnessing indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel, in an attempt to conclude an agreement to end the war of extermination and exchange prisoners.
Hamas has repeatedly affirmed its willingness to release Israeli prisoners "in one batch" in exchange for an end to the war of extermination, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice, is evading the situation by proposing new conditions, the most recent of which is the disarmament of Palestinian factions, a requirement the latter reject as long as the Israeli occupation continues.
The opposition and the prisoners' families accuse Netanyahu of continuing the war in deference to the more extreme right-wing faction within his government, to further his personal political interests, particularly his continued hold on power.
