Barak issues new warning about heavy assault on Gaza

Is rael's top brass warned on Tuesday that its patience was wearing thin over rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, as more people were wounded in army attacks on the Hamas-run territory.

Amid growing calls for an all-out assault on the impoverished strip, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the armed forces would do whatever is necessary to stop the attacks.

"Israel will not refrain from taking any course of action in order to bring a stop to the fire against Sderot," Barak said, referring to the town that has borne the brunt of rocket fire.

"There are reasons why we are not using all our force right now, but it will happen at the right moment," he told journalists traveling with him to Turkey, without elaborating.

On Monday, the military's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi, said the army was "prepared and ready to broaden its actions in conformity with the decisions taken."

The military has conducted a series of deadly operations in Gaza over the past week after a suicide bombing in Israel that was claimed by Hamas.

Israel has also tightened its blockade on the isolated territory, allowing in only limited supplies of fuel and medicine to a 1.5 million population largely dependent on aid.

Israeli forces continued attacks against militants on Tues day. Seven Palestinians – including civilians – were hit during a pre-dawn firefight with an invading infantry unit in Gaza City, witnesses said.

An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the same attack, an army spokesman said.

Two more Palestinians were hurt when soldiers opened fire while searching homes during an attack on the central town of Deir al-Balah, witnesses said.

An army spokesman confirmed the shootings.

Calls for a full-scale assault have been spurred by persistent rocket fire at southern Israel from Gaza, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned on Sunday that no one from the Islamist movement was immune.

But on Tuesday, Israeli novelist and veteran peace activist Amos Oz

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