Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned on Monday that the army was preparing an extensive operation in the Gaza Strip and that the government could decide on the offensive within days, an MP said.
"The army is preparing for an even more extensive operation in the Gaza Strip," Olmert was quoted by the source as telling parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee four months after a massive operation began in Gaza.
"The government intends to reach a decision on the exact pattern of the operation in the coming days," Olmert was reported to have said.
At least 260 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched an assault on Gaza last June with the aims of retrieving a captured soldier and halting rocket attacks, neither of which have happened.
A government spokeswoman, however, tried to downplay Olmert's comments, insisting that Israel would continue its current tack and that no significant tactical shift was afoot.
"Israel is determined to fight terror, not differently but continuously," Miri Eisin, who was at the committee meeting with Olmert, told AFP.
"We won't change our mode of operation in the Gaza Strip and we will not go back to Gaza. We intend to continue our operation there and carry out pinpoint operations."
Olmert himself reiterated that Israel had no intention of keeping troops in the Palestinian territory permanently after last year's historic withdrawal.
"We will operate in the Gaza Strip but we do not intend to stay there permanently," the committee member quoted Olmert as saying.
Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya, whose Hamas-led government is based in the Gaza Strip, denounced the Israeli threats.
"The incursions, threats and arrests continue. The threats have crossed a new threshold since they (the Israelis) speak about a partial reoccupation of the Gaza Strip to try to isolate it from Egypt," he told his Hamas-led cabinet.
"We call on the international community to intervene immediately to halt the Israeli aggression and Israeli plans seeking to reoccupy part of the Gaza Strip and close crossing points from being put into effect," he added.
Israeli cabinet ministers have recently called for the military campaign to intensify, including seizing control of the Gaza-Egyptian border to stem an alleged flow of smuggled weapons.
Olmert said on Monday that Israel was also working to strengthen the hand of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose moderate Fatah faction Israelis hope can counter the growing influence of the ruling Hamas.
"The IDF (army) is continuing its activity against terror activity in the Gaza Strip and at the same time continues humanitarian aid to help Abu Mazen (Abbas)," Olmert said, according to committee member Ran Cohen.
Towards that end, Olmert said Israel was considering whether or not to approve the deployment to the Palestinian territories of the Bader Force, a Palestinian militia loyal to Abbas currently based in Jordan.
"If an additional force could strengthen Abu Mazen such as the Bader Force, Israel will consider its deployment favourably if it does not harm our security," Olmert said, according to Cohen.
Olmert was also quoted as claiming by officials that Israel has killed 300 Gaza 'militants' since the start of the operation.
An AFP count, however, puts the number of dead Palestinians at 260, along with two Israeli soldiers, since the offensive began on June 28.