(CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he has directed Israel’s military to take over 70% of Gaza’s territory. During an interview at a conference in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said that Israel is “tightening” its grip on Hamas. “We are now in 60% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. We were at 50%. We moved to 60%,” he said. “My directive is to move to — take it step by step — first of all 70.