Netanyahu says he's devoted to expansionist 'Greater Israel' plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly declared his commitment to a so-called "Greater Israel" vision, describing himself as on a "historic and spiritual mission" to achieve the expansionist ideology which seeks Israeli control not only over Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, but also parts of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

In an interview with Israel's i24NEWS on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he felt "very much" connected to the vision, which was rooted in Revisionist Zionism.

The expansionist idea has long been criticised for promoting the seizure of land beyond Israel's borders, bringing in Jews from around the world to inhabit it, and expelling indigenous populations.

It was first publicly invoked in 1956 by Israel's founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who justified Israel's role in the tripartite attack by France, Britain, and Israel on Egypt's Suez Canal area by citing the "biblical borders of the kingdom of David and Solomon".

Breaking from his usual pattern of granting exclusive interviews to the pro-government Channel 14, Netanyahu used the platform to cast himself as a leader on a "mission on behalf of the Jewish people".

He again pushed to "allow civilians to leave Gaza", likening it to refugee flows from Syria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, without acknowledging Israel’s 18-year blockade of the territory or the mass displacement caused by its current genocidal military campaign, which kills scores of civilians every day.

Jordan's foreign ministry condemned Netanyahu's comments as a dangerous and provocative escalation, warning they threaten the sovereignty of states and violate international law and the UN Charter.

Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah said the remarks reflected the "critical situation" of Israel’s government as it faces growing international isolation over its ongoing aggression in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

He called on the international community to act immediately to stop all such provocative actions and statements that endanger the region’s stability and international peace and security.

Recent reports indicate Israel has approached countries, including South Sudan, Indonesia, and Libya, to accept Palestinians forcibly expelled from Gaza, raising fears of large-scale ethnic cleansing.

On Wednesday, South Sudan's Foreign Affairs Ministry denied an Associated Press report claiming it was in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians in the East African country.

For Palestinians, any effort to force them off their land would recall the "Nakba", or catastrophe - the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

Netanyahu has endorsed Trump's suggestion earlier this year to expel Gaza's more than two million people to Egypt and Jordan, while far-right Israeli ministers have called for their "voluntary" departure.

He said he would oppose any deal that would see the staggered release of Israeli captives held by Hamas, and instead would "want to return all of them as part of an end to the war - but under our conditions".

Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israel had intensified its air strikes on Gaza City in recent days, following the security cabinet's decision to expand the war there.

"The Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment [using] bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction", Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said on Tuesday, noting that air raids had been increasing over the past three days.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the war, with Netanyahu himself the target of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed more than 61,000 people, mostly women and children, and have used deliberate starvation as a weapon of war.