Israeli government authorities say they have not ruled out a major army incursion into the Gaza Strip. In fact, the Israeli army has completed its military preparation for such an operation.

The announcement comes in tandem with Israeli complaints of renewed Qassam rocket firing from the Gaza Strip into Israel and also with claims that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have recently developed missiles with a 15-18 kilometer range.

Israeli forces have already amassed reinforcements along the Palestinian side of the security fence in the Strip, claiming that Hamas has taken advantage of the months-long calm and Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire understanding to lay explosives all along the fence between themselves and Israel. Israel also says Palestinian groups are digging more tunnels in preparation for arms smuggling and military operations against Israeli targets.

According to Israeli sources, Israel warned PA security officials, via the United States, about rocket manufacturing in the Strip and about the development of anti-tank missiles. Israel has made it clear that a wide-scale military operation into the Strip to halt these rockets and to curb any resistance activity would not be ruled out if the Palestinians did not stop these groups.

Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert extend the ceasefire already in place in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. In a meeting between the two leaders three weeks ago, Abbas said Hamas and the Islamic Jihad – the two organizations with the most at stake in such a ceasefire – agreed to commit to the ceasefire, but Israel refused.

Olmert responded yesterday that he would consider such a move only if Abbas succeeded in reining in the armed groups in Gaza responsible for launching rockets into Israel. He said he would consider an extension of the ceasefire to include the West Bank only if calm prevailed for a period of two weeks in the Strip.