TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel planned to take control of all of the Gaza Strip, bucking the advice of the Israeli military and warnings that expanding operations could endanger the hostages being held there and kill more Palestinian civilians.

Netanyahu made the comments in an interview with Fox News before a security Cabinet meeting Thursday to discuss a proposal to expand military operations in Gaza. They came as talks to achieve a ceasefire and the release of the hostages have hit an impasse, with Israeli and Hamas officials blaming each other for the deadlock.

When asked whether Israel would take over all of Gaza, he responded, “We intend to.”

Netanyahu said the move would “assure our security,” remove Hamas from power and enable the transfer of the civilian administration of Gaza to another party.

The prime minister, however, suggested Israel was not interested in maintaining permanent control over the entire enclave. “We don’t want to keep it,” he added. “We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces.”

Hamas, in a statement Thursday responding to Netanyahu, said his comments “represent a clear reversal of the course of negotiations and clearly reveal the true motives behind his withdrawal from the final round.”

Even if the Israeli ministers in the security Cabinet vote in favor of seeking to take over the remainder of Gaza, it could be days or weeks before Israeli soldiers begin pushing deeper into the territory.

The Israeli military has said that it has conquered about 75% of Gaza. The coastal strip stretching from Gaza City in the north to Khan Younis in the south is the main area outside Israeli control. Many of the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, including those displaced from their homes in the territory, have squeezed into tents, makeshift shelters and apartments in those areas.

Israel’s expansion of military action would be in defiance of many other countries urging an end to the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has pushed back against the potential plan, according to four Israeli security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

The military leadership would prefer a new ceasefire instead of ramping up fighting, according to three of the officials.