Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday rejected Hamas' demands for the release of hostages, and said that an Israeli team will travel to Qatar for new Gaza truce talks after the security cabinet discusses the Israeli position, according to a statement by his office.

Netanyahu has approved plans for an operation on Rafah, and the military is preparing to evacuate the population from there, the office added. Rafah, bordering Egypt, is currently home to over a million Palestinians displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.