Israel to occupy Gaza in the long-term, says foreign minister

Israel plans to occupy Gaza indefinitely, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in an interview on Channel 12. 

"There will be Israeli security control from the Jordan [river] to the [Mediterranean] sea at all times," Cohen said, alluding to a Palestinian resistance chant that calls for Palestine to be free "from the river to the sea". 

The foreign minister rejected any notion that the Palestinian Authority would play a role in Gaza's future governance, saying that the PA had "not condemned the October 7 event" and continues to pay members of the Hamas party's salaries in the occupied West Bank. 

Israeli authorities have vowed to erradicate the Hamas government and its members from the Gaza Strip before ending its current bombardment, which has killed at least 12,300 people, including more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women.