Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

The prime minister adds Israel does "not want to keep it", as the UN warns the move could risk "catastrophic consequences".

The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu's coalition, of Israeli forces thrusting into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has generated alarm in Israel.