Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) made clear on Wednesday evening that evening Israel retaking Gaza was on the agenda, should Hamas not stop the rocket fire.
"We decided when to start the operation, when to attack from the air and we will also decide how to move forward,” he told Channel 2 News.
“Retaking Gaza is an option that is on the table,” said Lapid, who stressed that Hamas leaders "should know that we will reach each and every one of them."
Asked about the budget for Operation Protective Edge, Lapid said that "we will not prevent an operation for economic reasons. The defense system knows that it has all the required budget for each activity."
There have been calls on Israel to retake Gaza in order to deal with the rocket threat from the Hamas-controlled territory. The most vocal calls have come from Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who has said time and time again that the only way to eliminate the rocket attacks is take over Gaza.
Former Israeli National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror made similar comments several weeks ago.
"We’ve never had a crushing blow that hurt the other side’s the ability to launch missiles," Amidror said, adding that he believes the only way to achieve complete quiet is to "retake Gaza and be there for six months to a year to clean it out."