Israel Threatens 'disproportionate' Response to Palestinian Rocket Fire

Israel's government has threatened to take "fierce and disproportionate" action in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired six rockets on southern Israeli towns this morning.

The preparation to launch fresh attacks on Gaza comes two weeks after Israel halted a three-week onslaught and claimed its aims were "attained fully".

Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said the defence minister, Ehud Barak, was preparing the army for a surprise attack. "We won't give the terror groups warning as to when and how we'll react, but Israel will respond and act at the time and place of its choosing," Olmert said.

But the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who leads Kadima, which dominates the governing coalition, demanded an immediate reprisal. "We need to use strength and a lot of it, there is no reason to wait," Livni said.

With nine days to the election and with the ceasefire unravelling, Kadima is scrambling to gain ground on its rightwing rival, Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party, which looks set to win the election.

Israel's threat of renewed attacks came as Hamas reportedly considered an Egyptian proposal for a year-long truce starting on Thursday. A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo tomorrow to give the group's answer. The truce reportedly would allow the deployment of Hamas's Palestinian rivals, the Palestinian Authority, to control the crossings from Egypt into Gaza.

But the prospect of a deal, even one that would stop rockets raining down on southern Israel, offers little hope to the beleaguered centrists, Kadima and labor.

Despite waging a 22-day war in Gaza, Kadima's coalition government is still scrambling to prove its national security credentials in the face of continuing rocket fire and Netanayahu's calls to purge Hamas from Gaza.

"There are those sitting with the Hamas regime who want to reach understandings with the group, and there are those working to bring an end to the Hamas regime. A settlement with Hamas would give it legitimacy, and those working for that with the Egyptians need to understand that," Livni reportedly said during a cabinet meeting.

Her remarks were perceived as a veiled attack on Barak, who also leads labor, and who said Israel would act with discretion. "In election season, there is a lot of chatter by people who have never held a weapon and don't understand the conditions under which we must act," he said. "Hamas was dealt a severe blow and it will be dealt one again, but the decision needs to be made by the experts."