In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that they want to establish a "civilian government" in Gaza if they succeed in taking out the terrorist organization Hamas.
"We don't seek to conquer Gaza, we don't seek to occupy Gaza and we don't seek to rule Gaza," he said.
Earlier this week, however, he expressed that Israel intends to take over "security responsibility" for the Gaza Strip indefinitely.
Transitional period
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed on Wednesday, after the G7 summit in Tokyo, that Israel "cannot reoccupy Gaza."
"It is necessary for the Palestinian people to govern Gaza and also the West Bank," he said.
He admitted, however, that a transition period is likely to follow when the war is over.
Isabell Schierenbeck, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, believes that Netanyahu felt compelled to clarify Israel's position.
"I think he wants to signal that even if Israel is in control of Gaza if it succeeds in achieving the goal of removing Hamas, it is not interested in occupying Gaza for a longer period," she said.
At the same time, there is a risk that a possible transition period may be protracted.
"It is extremely complicated what awaits Gaza in the future and the question is what happens during the transition period.
"Demilitarize and deradicalize"
In addition to establishing civilian rule, Netanyahu wants to "demilitarize and deradicalize" Gaza. A plan that is likely to be difficult to implement, according to Isabell Schierenbeck.
"It's impossible to knock out the whole idea of what Hamas stands for," she says.
"Even if you had some kind of security control, it's impossible to control people in that way when it comes to the big ideological issues.
What might happen in Gaza after the war? Listen to Isabell Schierenbeck talk about possible scenarios in the video player above.