Two Palestinian girls died yesterday when militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with homemade rockets and mortars, one of which fell short of the border and hit the victims’ home.

The volleys fired at Israel heightened speculation that Israeli forces were likely to launch a campaign in Gaza soon. However, Israel relaxed its blockade of the coastal strip, allowing 106 trucks carrying medicine, fuel and other goods into the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people. Israeli officials warned that further attacks would force them to seal off the coastal strip completely.

Violence between the two sides has flared since a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas, the militant organisation in the Gaza Strip, expired on December 19. Egyptian officials attempting to mediate another truce said that the continuing clashes had brought talks between the two groups to a near-standstill.

Senior Israeli defence officials confirmed that a “limited operation” in Gaza could begin within days, and would probably combine air and ground attacks against militants who have participated in the attacks.

“We cannot stand by and continue with the status quo, which sees our southern communities live with the daily terror of rocket attacks,” an official said. The Israeli military is hesitant to conduct a large-scale operation, which would be likely to carry a high death toll and leave Israel occupying at least part of the Gaza Strip. A recent study by the Israeli Defence Forces speculated that reoccupation of Gaza would cost 17 million shekels (£3 million) a day just for the immediate humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, threatened Gaza militants, saying that the Jewish state would strike back hard if attacks continued. “I will not hesitate to use Israel’s strength to strike at Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We have very great and destructive strength, which we do not wish to use. I think of the tens of thousands of children and innocents who will be in danger as a result of Hamas’s actions.”

A Foreign Ministry official said that it was an unpopular time to conduct a “large operation with unpredictable results due to the political climate”. Israel is in the midst of national elections, with polls indicating a tight race between the Kadima candidate, Tzipi Livni, and the Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Both politicians have taken a strong line on Gaza, stating that “military action” could be used to overthrow the Hamas leadership there.

Increased tensions between Israel and Gaza have led Egypt to boost security along its border with Gaza, fearing that an incursion would prompt Palestinians to flee.

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