The army is ready for a large-scale counter terrorist operation in Gaza but is waiting for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to give the go-ahead, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday at a conference of senior army officers. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Olmert said, "The security establishment has the tools and all of the necessary confirmations to deal with [the] threat" of rocket attacks on Israel.

Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi told the Cabinet last April, "The only solution to continued Palestinian rocket fire into the western Negev is to implement a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip." He added that artillery and helicopter fire can reduce the number of attacks but cannot stop them.