"The most likely scenario is that there is a cease-fire, hopefully brokered by the United States and Egypt, and then we all go back to exactly where we were before," says Reza Aslan, author of "No God but God," which looks at how the Arab Spring movement will ultimately play out.

"In a couple years, we start this process all over again. At a certain point, Israel is going to have to recognize that Hamas, whether it likes it or not, is the actual government in Gaza. And it's going to have to figure out a long-term solution to maintaining a viable ceasefire and that might include actually easing the blockade against Gaza," he told CNN on Monday.

According to Haaretz, Netanyhau, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were updated on Monday by an Israel emissary who had just returned from a talk with Egyptian general intelligence officials.

"The deliberations centered on the demands made by Hamas and on the Egyptian proposals for compromise," according to the newspaper, quoting an Israeli official.

When asked by reporters what Israel wanted from Hamas, Oren said, "Guarantees against the return to the status quo."

Malka said Hamas could make a ground decision easy for Israel if it were to launch a "large wave of longer range rockets that hit the Tel Aviv area or a shorter range rocket that hits and causes a high number of civilian casualties."

The Palestinian territory has been under a crippling economic embargo since Hamas, a militant fundamentalist Islamic organization, took political control from the Palestinian Authority in a 2007 election.