Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday evening that “Israel must control the Philadelphia border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.”

This came in a press conference held by Netanyahu, alone, without Ministers Yoav Galant and Benny Gantz, after they refused to participate in the conference.

Netanyahu added: "The Philadelphia axis must be in our hands and under our control, and any arrangement other than that will not be accepted by Israel."

The "Philadelphia Corridor" is also known as the "Salah al-Din Corridor," which is a 14-kilometre border strip between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Regarding the war that Israel continues to wage against the Gaza Strip since last October 7, Netanyahu said: “The war will continue for several months to achieve all its goals.”

He added: "Achieving victory requires more time. We want to ensure that Gaza does not pose any threat."

Netanyahu added: “We incurred heavy costs in Gaza, but the war is at its peak, and we are fighting on all fronts, and we are continuing to fight,” claiming “achievements.”

He stressed that "the Israeli army will continue its raids in various areas of the Gaza Strip, north, south, and in the central region."

Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli army “has so far killed 8,000 Hamas militants.”

Regarding the prisoners, he pointed out that “the Israeli government sees the possibility of moving forward on the issue of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.”

Netanyahu touched on Iran and Hezbollah and threatened them if they decided to expand the war, saying: “You will receive blows that no one dreamed of.”

He added: "We are working against Iran all the time, in every place, and in all possible ways. We must prevent it from possessing a nuclear weapon."

Regarding whether he intends to resign from the government, Netanyahu said: “The only thing I wish to resign from is Hamas. I am dealing with that and nothing else.”

Earlier Saturday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz, refused to participate in the press conference that Netanyahu will hold on Saturday evening.

Since the formation of the war council headed by Netanyahu, and including Gallant and Gantz, Hebrew media reported on more than one occasion that there were disagreements between Netanyahu and Gallant on the one hand, and Netanyahu and Gantz on the other hand, regarding the management of the war and the file of Israeli prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip.