JERUSALEM, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday that Israeli troops would remain in the enclave along the so-called "Yellow Line."

"We control the territory. We are not withdrawing. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office. He said Israel would continue its operations until Hamas was disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.

He said Israel now controlled about 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, adding: "There is more to come, as we continue to kill militants who threaten us on a daily basis."

The "Yellow Line" was established under an October 2025 U.S.-brokered ceasefire as the line to which Israeli forces were initially to withdraw. The plan envisaged further Israeli withdrawals alongside steps including the disarmament of Hamas, but Netanyahu rejected the U.S.-backed 15-point Gaza peace plan in August.

Israel has pushed its positions further into Gaza, expanding the territory under its military control. Netanyahu said in May that he had ordered the military to expand its control to 70 percent of the enclave.