Jerusalem - Israel and the Islamist Hamas group are preparing for a sharp military escalation in the days ahead, amid rising expectations that Israeli forces will launch an assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip but refrain from all-out invasion.

A Palestinian girl waits to cross an Israeli checkpoint. (Photo: Bernat Armangue / AP)

    After days of belligerent rhetoric from Israeli leaders, Ehud Olmert on Thursday issued a direct appeal to the 1.5m Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with an Arab television station the outgoing Israel prime minister urged Gazans to turn against Hamas and force an end to the recent barrage of rocket and mortar attacks on nearby Israeli towns: "Could I allow more missiles against the residents of Israel? More strikes at children and civilians and do nothing? Certainly not ... "I say to you in a last-minute call: Stop it. Stop it. You the citizens of Gaza, you can stop it."

    Hamas said on Friday that "nobody wants killing and destruction, including us." However, Israel said Gaza-based militants had fired at least 20 mortars at Israel since Thursday. Reports from the Gaza Strip said that two Palestinian girls were killed and four injured on Friday, when a projectile aimed at Israel misfired and exploded on the Gaza side of the border.

    Israel on Friday opened the border crossings into Gaza to let in limited supplies of flour, grain, sugar and other goods. The crossings have been open only sporadically since a cease-fire agreed between the two sides started unraveling early last month. As a result, the 1.5m Palestinians living in the crowded territory have experienced some of the worst shortages of fuel, power, food and other supplies since Hamas took control of the strip in June 2007.

    Mr Olmert, who will leave office following an early general election in February, is to consult cabinet colleagues and advisers on Sunday on what course to take. He is under intense pressure both from within the government and from the rightwing opposition to order a military offensive against Gaza. Until recently, the prime minister seemed reluctant to follow the advice of his hawkish critics, possibly out of concern for the expected high casualties and anticipating a negative response around the world.

    Over the past days, however, Israeli political and military leaders have increasingly presented an attack on Gaza as inevitable. Gabi Ashenazi, the chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, said on Thursday that "this reality cannot be allowed to continue and we will need to use our full force to hit the terrorist infrastructure."

    Israeli media reported on Friday that the army was preparing for a "limited" operation in the Gaza Strip, combining air strikes and small-scale incursions.

    The conflict with Hamas has also increasingly come to dominate the early phase of the election campaign, which will last until polling day on February 10.

    As the official in charge of any military operation in Gaza, Ehud Barak, the defence minister and leader of the centre-left Labour party, is perhaps under the greatest pressure. His party is trailing badly in the polls, and the government's hesitation has left him exposed to accusations of weakness and dithering. Yet, he has also most to lose politically from a poorly executed or indecisive military strike.

    Most polls predict an election victory for the right-wing Likud party.

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