Brigadier-General Amos Gilad, one of the ministry’s most senior officials, wants to penetrate the militants’ strongholds in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the appointment of a Palestinian government led by Hamas, the extremist Islamic organisation.

The plan, which is being considered by senior figures in Kadima, the party expected to lead Israel’s new government after the election, is believed to call for at least three armoured divisions as well as several battalions of paratroops and infantry. It would be intended primarily to destroy nests of militants from Hamas and other groups in West Bank towns such as Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron.

“The military aim will be to seize the main Palestinian towns in the West Bank and continue the operation until the last of the militants are dead or under arrest,” said one security source.

The planners envisage the army eventually withdrawing to Israel’s final borders, having neutralised much of the potential threat to its security.

However, the assault would be certain to meet fierce Palestinian resistance. Large quantities of weapons have arrived in Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal last summer.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is warning the incoming Hamas government that it has no future unless it agrees to recognise Israel.

In a letter to the designated prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, Abbas said he would exercise his right to bring down the government if he believed its anti-Israeli policies were harming Palestinian interests.

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