Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference for foreign media that "Hamas has thousands of armed terrorists in Gaza and wants to repeat the atrocities of October 7 and do it again and again." Netanyahu further noted that "Our goal is not to conquer Gaza but to liberate Gaza from Hamas terrorists. Gaza will be demilitarized, Israel will have security responsibility; security zones will be established on the borders to prevent invasions." He added that "A civilian government will be appointed in Gaza that will aspire to live in peace with Israel." According to Netanyahu, the civilian government "will not be Hamas and not the Palestinian Authority."