Israel will likely have "security responsibility" over the Gaza Strip if it is able to defeat Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli leaders have declared their intent to remove Hamas from power in Gaza and the group's military capabilities following the unprecedented Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, but questions remain regarding how the enclave will be governed moving forward should Israeli forces succeed in its war.

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“I think Israel will for an indefinite period have security responsibility,” Netanyahu told ABC News in an interview that aired on Monday. “We’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that … security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.”

The prime minister did not provide any additional details about what the security oversight could entail or how long it could last.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza.”

The feasibility of such a plan is unknown. The Palestinian Authority, which governs over the West Bank, is run by President Mahmoud Abbas, who has served for nearly 20 years after being elected to a four-year term.

Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed during Israel's retaliatory attacks in Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday the death toll since Oct. 7 has exceeded 10,000 while another 25,000 have been injured, though the Biden administration has raised doubts about the ministry's credibility, even though U.S. officials have acknowledged that thousands of civilians have been killed.

The Biden administration, which has largely supported Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks, has faced increased pressure to push Israel for a ceasefire due to the staggering death toll, the significant infrastructure destruction, and the lack of essential humanitarian needs for civilians.

Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Monday, and the two leaders discussed the possibility of "tactical pauses" to help civilians, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said.

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The Israeli leader said in the interview that while short-term pauses may happen, any ceasefire agreement would need to include the release of the more than 200 hostages that have been held in Gaza for a month since the attacks. Only five hostages have been freed so far.

"Well, there'll be no ceasefire, general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages," Netanyahu said. "As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there. We've had them before, I suppose, will check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave. But I don't think there's going to be a general ceasefire."