Netanyahu says Israel should seize control of Gaza-Egypt border

The border zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt should be under Israel's control, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday as he predicted the bombing of Gaza would last many more months.

"The Philadelphi Corridor - or to put it more correctly, the southern stoppage point (of Gaza) - must be in our hands. It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek," he said.

Israel has said it intends to destroy the Hamas government in Gaza and demilitarise the enclave.

"The war is at its height. We are fighting on all of the fronts. Achieving victory will require time. As the (army) chief of staff has said, the war will continue for many more months," Netanyahu said.

He added a rare threat to attack Iran directly over the near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border.

"If Hezbollah expands the warfare, it will suffer blows that it has not dreamed of - and so too Iran," Netanyahu said without elaborating.