Israel's military will "take control" of Gaza City under a new plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, touching off a wave of criticism Friday from both inside and outside the country.

Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to secure a truce to pull the territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Israel's foe Hamas denounced the plan to expand the fighting as a "new war crime", while staunch Israeli ally Germany took the extraordinary step of halting military exports out of concern they could be used in Gaza.

Under the newly approved plan to "defeat" Hamas, the Israeli army "will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones", the premier's office said Friday.

Before the decision, Netanyahu had said Israel planned to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, but did not intend to govern it.

"We don't want to keep it," the premier told US network Fox News on Thursday, adding Israel wanted a "security perimeter" and to hand the Palestinian territory to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us".

Israel........

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