GAZA CITY, Dec 26: The spectre of a military invasion on Friday hung over Hamas-run Gaza Strip where two children were killed as Palestinian militants fired more rockets despite Israeli threats of harsh retaliation.

Two girls – one aged five and the other 12 – were killed when their house in northern Gaza was hit by a rocket which witnesses said was apparently fired by Palestinian militants targeting southern Israel.

Four other family members were wounded.

The casualties came amid mounting speculation that the Israeli military would soon launch an operation in the Gaza Strip, which most media said would probably be limited in scope and not a full-scale invasion.

“Army preparing for combined ground, air operation in Gaza,” declared the front-page headline in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Violence in and around the Palestinian enclave has flared since a six-month ceasefire ended on Dec 19, and escalated dramatically on Wednesday when militants fired more than 80 rockets and mortar rounds after Israel launched deadly air strikes over the coastal strip.

On Friday, 13 rockets and mortar shells hit southern Israel, causing no casualties but damaging a house that was unoccupied at the time.

Israel had responded to earlier rocket attacks by tightening the blockade it has imposed since the Islamist Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007.

But officials said dozens of truckloads of supplies were delivered to Gaza on Friday after Israel decided to temporarily allow humanitarian aid into the impoverished territory.

At the same time, the Israeli government issued dire warnings to Gaza militants, saying it would strike back hard if attacks continue.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who hopes to replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister after the February 10 election, has vowed to topple Hamas if her Kadima party wins.—AFP