The cabinet convened, Friday morning in Tel Aviv, to discuss the latest developments in the Protective Edge counter-terror campaign in Gaza. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the outset of the meeting that Israel was ready to expand the scope of the campaign beyond Thursday evening's introduction of ground troops to the operation.
Ahead of the meeting, Housing Minister Uri Ariel called on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to finish the job and crush terror, adding that all terrorists should be eliminated, including the heads of Hamas. He said Israel should not wait another year and allow a next round, adding that the IDF should work quickly so that Israel does not find itself subject to the kind of international pressure that could prevent it from finishing the job. Saying the IDF would administer a serious blow to Hamas, Public Safety Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the ground effort is not expected to finish quickly.