Israel killed nine Palestinians in military operations in the Gaza Strip today and threatened a major ground sweep of the Hamas-run territory to stem cross-border rocket fire.
We are getting closer to carrying out a widespread operation in Gaza which, for many reasons, has not taken place in the past weeks
Five members of the Army of Islam militant group died in an Israeli air strike on their car in Gaza City. In a separate incident, Palestinian witnesses said Israeli shelling killed a gunman and three bystanders in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.
The fighting -- among the bloodiest since Hamas Islamists seized control of Gaza in June -- came hours after militants said they launched more than 12 rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
Israel sent troops backed by dozens of tanks and armoured bulldozers into Beit Hanoun, a favoured rocket-launching ground, sparking clashes with Hamas and other local gunmen.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said there could soon be a broader sweep in Gaza.
"We are getting closer to carrying out a widespread operation in Gaza which, for many reasons, has not taken place in the past weeks," Barak told Israel's Army Radio.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has come under pressure from Sderot residents and right-wing politicians to order a large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
Several Israeli cabinet ministers have cautioned that such a campaign could lead to heavy casualties among Israeli forces and Palestinians in the densely populated coastal territory where 1.5 million people live.