Israel threatens 'disproportionate' response to Palestinian rocket fire.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

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 ...