JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister says Israel may soon broaden its ground operation in the Gaza Strip significantly.

The statement by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon was published shortly after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Cairo late Friday that he has been unable to win agreement for a temporary weeklong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

In a statement by Yaalon’s office, he is quoted as telling troops in the field that “you need to be ready for the possibility that very soon we will instruct the military to significantly broaden the ground operation in Gaza.”

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