Israel is considering the appropriate method with which to counter the arms smuggling and Qassam rocket attacks in the Gaza Strip, and a decision will be made in the coming days on the nature of the action that
will be undertaken, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.

Olmert said that the IDF would expand its operation against smugglers, but that troops would not remain inside Gaza for an extended period of time.

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"Israel is operating against Hamas centers in Gaza. We will expand the operations, but we will not remain for an extended period in Gaza," Olmert said in response to criticism by a number of MKs against Israel's current operation.

MKs Effie Eitam and Zvi Hendel (NRP-National Union), as well as Limor Livnat and Dan Naveh (Likud) said the IDF is not operating aggressively enough against Gaza militants.

Olmert told the committee that 300 militants have been killed in the course of the IDF's Gaza operations over the past three months.

The prime minister described the efforts as aiming to "end the launching of Qassam rockets and strike at the stores of weapons and ammunition that have been accumulating in the Gaza Strip," adding that there is significant smuggling going on through the Philadelphi Route, on the border separating the Gaza Strip from Sinai.

"Individuals who we have marked as having links to terrorism or belonging to various terrorist organizations are passing through the Rafah crossing, and according to the agreements [on the regime governing the
crossing], they should not be passing there," Olmert said.

The prime minister also warned that, "We must be very sober regarding what is going on in Gaza. The calls for putting an end to the terrorism from Gaza are easy to make and difficult to carry out, but at the same
time it is clear to me that we must act." Olmert added that Israel's action will not include an operation in which Israeli forces are permanently positioned in the Gaza Strip.

Olmert told the Knesset committee that in recent months, the IDF killed 300 militants in the Gaza Strip.

However, Olmert was also quick to warn of a pending humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and said that unless it is contained, it can deteriorate into a humanitarian disaster.

He said Israel was not to blame for the situation, and blamed militant groups and domestic infighting among the Palestinian factions for transforming the Gaza Strip into an area of human suffering.

The prime minister did acknowledge that it is in Israel's interest to limit any humanitarian crisis to a minimum.

"Toward this effort [minimizing civilian suffering], we shall open the crossings in order to allow fresh supplies to reach the citizens, we will be prepared to bolster the forces supporting Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas], we will assist humanitarian organizations directly, and we will cooperate with all international parties," Olmert said.

The prime minister noted that there is no basis to the reports that Egypt bolstered its forces along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Olmert also responded to MK Yossi Beilin's question regarding his refusal to respond favorably to peace calls by Syria's Basher Assad, saying that he will not talk with Assad so long as he supports terrorist organizations and grants them asylum in Damascus.

Haniyeh: Additional IDF operation in Gaza 'dangerous escalation'
Officials said the goal of an expanded IDF offensive would be to prevent arms smuggling along the porous Egypt-Gaza frontier.

"What has happened is that the border between the Palestinian border and Egypt has deteriorated and that may entail additional activities that we haven't done until now," Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Olmert, said. "But that doesn't mean we're going to go back... and reoccupy any part of Gaza."

Israel has been fighting in Gaza since June, when Hamas militants there
carried out a cross-border raid, killing two soldiers and seizing a third.
However, the army has largely avoided acting in the border area with Egypt - going in only once since its withdrawal last September.

Recently, Israel said that arms smuggling across the border had increased significantly, and newspaper reports that Israel planned to bomb the area led Egypt to reinforce its side of the frontier over the weekend.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said any additional military
operations in Gaza, specifically along the border with Egypt, would be a
"dangerous escalation."

On Saturday, Egyptian officials said 5,000 police officers had been sent to reinforce the border with Gaza. Olmert, however, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that there is no basis to reports that Egypt intends to deploy an additional 5,000 border policemen.