Israel is seeking permanent military control of all of the Gaza Strip with its current offensive, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

“At the end of this campaign, all of the territories of the Gaza Strip will be under Israel’s security control,” Netanyahu asserted.

The Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement would be “completely destroyed,” the Israeli prime minister told reporters in Jerusalem.

Israel’s army recently launched a major offensive in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, where around 2 million Palestinians live. Ground troops are also involved.

Dozens of deaths have been reported in recent days as a result of the fighting. At least 62 people have been killed and dozens injured since early Wednesday in the Gaza Strip in the renewed Israeli attacks, according to the Hamas-run authorities in the Palestinian territory.

There were airstrikes and fatalities in Jabalia and Deir al-Balah, as well as near Khan Younis in the south of the territory, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing Gaza medical sources. Dozens of people were injured. The information could not be independently verified.

The Israeli army did not provide any details, and said on its X account only that it had “struck over 115 terror targets throughout Gaza from the ground, sea and air” over the past day.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military called on residents of several neighbourhoods in the north of the Gaza Strip to leave their homes.

An attack is imminent on these areas, from which Hamas is firing rockets at Israel, according to a statement by the army, which was distributed via text messages and online platforms.

Such evacuation calls are frequent and accompany an Israeli offensive.

A few hours earlier, the military reported that militants from the Gaza Strip had fired a projectile at southern Israel. The projectile was intercepted in mid-air, it said. Three more projectiles fell in the Gaza Strip before reaching Israeli territory, the Israeli military said later.

Israel’s actions in the region are facing increasing international criticism, including from close allies. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom suspended trade talks with Israel, sanctioned some West Bank settlers and summoned Israel’s ambassador to the UK.

Also on Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the European Union intends to review its cooperation agreement with Israel in view of the situation in Gaza.

The current conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other extremists invaded Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 hostage. Israel responded with a massive attack, which has since killed more than 53,000 in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The figures do not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.