TEL AVIV, May 11: Israel held off on Saturday from a threatened strike on the Gaza Strip, leading analysts to speculate on the factors behind Prime Minister Sharon’s about-face.

As Israeli forces pulled out of Bethlehem, the last major town occupied in their West Bank offensive, the Jewish state was looking to scale down plans to attack Gaza in reprisal for Tuesday’s suicide bombing.

Israeli and US officials deny that Washington had put any heat on Sharon, but White House spokesman Ari Fleischer did tell reporters Israel should be “mindful of its responsibilities” in the peace process.

Other factors also weighed as the Israelis plotted their moves in the densely populated Gaza, a strip of 360 square kilometres that is home to 1.2 million people along the Mediterranean Sea.

Analysts say the Israelis could find themselves bogged down in fierce close combat with large losses on both sides and heavy destruction of civilian areas that earned them a lot of bad press in the West Bank last month.

Officials said Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer and senior military officers met late Friday and ruled out a major offensive in Gaza, the bastion of the radical Palestinian group Hamas that claimed the attack.

They have opted for a more-limited operation with specific targets and a reduced number of ground forces, security sources said.

The army massed tanks close to Gaza and mobilized reservist soldiers after the government authorized military action in the wake of the May 7 kamikaze attack that occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was holding talks in Washington.

A security official said plans for the offensive against Hamas were altered because of leaks that cost the Israeli military the element of surprise.

But Israeli newspapers also suggested Sharon had come under US pressure to keep any Gaza operation limited and minimize the damage to chances for restarting peace talks.

On Saturday, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin vowed his movement would continue to carry out suicide bombings against Israeli civilians as long as there is a military occupation in the Palestinian territories.—AFP