Israel PM Netanyahu's big statement on Hamas as forces cut off north Gaza: Top points

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli will offer a "real future" to the people of Gaza after dismantling the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas as the army severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with airstrikes on Monday.

The Israeli forces are preparing for expected ground battles with Hamas militants in Gaza's largest city and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war which began on October 7.

Netanyahu also said Israel would consider "tactical little pauses" in Gaza fighting to facilitate the entry of aid or the exit of hostages, but yet again rejected calls for a general ceasefire despite growing international pressure.

Since Hamas launched a surprise attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis and seized more than 240 hostages, Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip from air and launched a ground assault. At least 10,000 Palestinians, including 4,104 children, have been killed so far due to Israeli action in the enclave, the Gaza health ministry said.

Israel Hamas war: Latest updates on November 7

1. "We will defeat and dismantle Hamas and we will offer the people of Gaza and the people of the Middle East a real future, a future of promise and hope, but this requires victory," Benjamin Netanyahu said.

2. Speaking in an ABC News interview, Netanyahu said he thought Israel would need security responsibility over the Palestinian enclave for an "indefinite period" after the war.

3. Asked about the potential for humanitarian pauses in fighting, an idea supported by Israel's top ally the United States, Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper his country's war effort.

4. "As far as tactical little pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we've had them before. I suppose we'll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave," Netanyahu told ABC News. "But I don't think there's going to be a general ceasefire."

5. International organisations have said hospitals cannot cope with the wounded and food and clean water are running out with aid deliveries nowhere near enough. "We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now," said a statement from the heads of several United Nations bodies on Monday, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.

6. The US has been pushing hard to arrange pauses in the conflict to allow aid to enter. But it has argued, like Israel, that Hamas would take advantage of a full ceasefire to regroup. US President Joe Biden discussed such pauses and possible hostage releases in a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating his support for Israel while emphasising that it must protect civilians, the White House said.

7. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that Gaza is becoming a "graveyard for children", calling for an urgent ceasefire in the enclave.

8. Troops are expected to enter Gaza City soon, Israeli media reported, and Palestinian militants who have had years to prepare are likely to fight street by street, launching ambushes from a vast network of tunnels.

(With inputs from agencies)

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