Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will move to control 70% of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is expanding its hold on Gaza and would move to control 70% of the enclave.

Speaking at the Jordan Valley Conference in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel now had control of 60% of the Gaza Strip, after increasing its hold from from 50%.

He said the next step was to move to 70% control, with Israel "tightening the grip" on Hamas "from every direction".

"We will deal with the remnants," Mr Netanyahu added.

"But the most important thing is to continue leveraging our power, to increase it."

The conference was part of a broader discussion on the war and Israel's regional strategy.

"There is still more work. What is happening right now is truly a global change. There is no doubt about that," Mr Netanyahu said.

His remarks came as dozens of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Thursday for funeral prayers, after Israel launched strikes the night before that killed 10 people and left more than 20 injured.

The dead include five children, an elderly person and a Hamas militant, according to Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Footage from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building, as bystanders rushed to carry wounded people to ambulances.

The strikes took place on the first day of Eid al-Adha, which means the "Feast of Sacrifice", an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims worldwide.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip targeting two Hamas militants.

Among those killed was Hamas fighter Imad Isleim.

Mourners carried his body wrapped in a white shroud with a Hamas flag draped over it.

Earlier this week, an Israeli air strike killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed leader of Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, less than two weeks after his predecessor was also killed.

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Mohammed Shawish, who was wounded and lost his wife in the strikes, broke down in tears as he held her body at the hospital morgue.

"I married my wife for love. For God's sake, I chose her because of love," he said.

Across the Gaza Strip, 16 people were killed and 39 others wounded over the past 48 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Thursday.

Since a fragile ceasefire came into effect last October, 922 people have been killed in Gaza and 2,786 others injured, according to the ministry, which is part of a Gaza's Hamas-run government, but is staffed by medical professionals.

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