The Israeli PM spoke ahead of a key meeting of his security cabinet, which will decide on whether to back the plan.

By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi TEL AVIV/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday 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.

Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet following a three-hour meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.