By Rebecca Harrison and Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders vowed on Monday tostep up their war against Hamas and predicted the Islamists'grip on the Gaza Strip would end within months.
Two days after a rocket from the enclave wounded an Israelichild and prompted dramatic headlines in a country grown usedto daily barrages that do little damage, Defence Minister EhudBarak pledged to step up the Israeli military campaign.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was at "war" and hisdeputy, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, said he expected Hamas, whichseized control in June, to be forced out within the year.
"I believe a combination of steps against Hamas in Gazawill bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza," Ramon said. "Itwill take a few months, maybe it will take a year."
Hamas sources said Hamas leaders were keeping a lowprofile, apparently to avoid assassination attempts. Asked whoIsrael could be targeting, minister Shaul Mofaz said:"Everyone, without exception."
Olmert faces public pressure for tougher reprisals after an8-year-old Israeli boy wounded in a weekend barrage of rocketfire had part of his leg amputated. His 19-year-old brother wasalso hurt in Saturday's attack in the town of Sderot.
Olmert told reporters in Berlin: "Our security forces havethe approval to take ... what they see as all the necessarysteps, with our agreement, so the situation can be changed."
Militants in Gaza hit southern Israel daily with rocketsand mortars, in what Hamas says is a response to Israeliattacks. Hundreds of attacks have killed two Israelis in thepast year.
The Jewish state frequently launches raids againstmilitants in Gaza, killing around 700 Palestinians includingcivilians in the past 12 months, Gazan officials say.
Scores of residents from the Israeli border town of Sderot,which has been hardest hit by the rocket fire, held a secondday of protests on Monday calling for harsher governmentaction.
Israel has tightened economic sanctions in Gaza since Hamasseized control in June after routing Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction. But Olmert is wary oflaunching a major ground offensive in the densely populatedcoastal territory for fear of heavy casualties on both sides.
A broader Israeli military campaign could also complicatepeace talks, which U.S. President George W. Bush hopes willlead to a deal before he leaves office to create a Palestinianstate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"WISHFUL THINKING"
Abbas's government said in a statement broader action inGaza could threaten peace moves and trigger more tit-for-tatviolence. It urged the United States and internationalcommunity to press Israel for restraint.
Olmert gave his strongest hint yet on Sunday that Israelcould renew political assassinations. Ramon echoed thosecomments, saying the army should target all Hamas leaders"directly or indirectly" involved in attacks against Israelis.
He also said Israel should respond to rockets byimmediately attacking areas from where salvoes were launchedand by further restricting electricity and fuel -- a strategydenounced as "collective punishment" by internationalorganisations.
Hamas dismissed Ramon's comments as "wishful thinking" andsaid Israel was in cahoots with Abbas, who holds sway in theWest Bank and is pursuing U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel.
Palestinians elected Hamas to power in 2006 but it wasshunned by the West for refusing to renounce violence. Abbassacked the Hamas-led government after the Gaza takeover.
Ramon reiterated that if Hamas stopped the rocket fire fromthe Gaza Strip, Israel could agree to a ceasefire. He also saidaction against Hamas in Gaza should go hand-in-hand withstepped-up peace negotiations with Abbas.
However, he also said Israel expected to be able toconclude only a broad "declaration of principles" this yearwith Abbas -- not the full settlement of the conflict that thePalestinians want. Ramon said Bush took a similar view toIsrael, although the U.S. president said during a visit to theWest Bank last month that he expected a "peace treaty" thisyear.
Hamas has offered a long-term truce with Israel in returnfor a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Ithas also offered a ceasefire if Israel ends its militaryaction.
Barak said the army would work in "every way" to stop therockets, would intensify air strikes and ground incursions andwas preparing for a possible extensive operation in Gaza.
The Jewish state pulled troops and settlers out of theterritory in 2005 but still controls most of its borders.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, JeffreyHeller in Berlin, Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, Brenda Gazzarand Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Rebecca Harrison;Editing by Alison Williams)
