Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take over Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Friday. Israel intended to take control of all of Gaza to "assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza," Netanyahu said on Thursday in an interview with Fox News ahead of the security cabinet meeting.

In response, Hamas said in a statement that it considers Netanyahu's statements to represent "a clear reversal of the course of negotiations and reveal the true motives behind his withdrawal from the final round."