Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Israel hinted it was ready to broaden its assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with a ground operation after three days of air raids failed to bring an end to cross-border rocket attacks.

“If the criminal, intentional rocket fire at the citizens of Israel is not stopped immediately, Israel will use all legal means at its disposal to stop the illegal and aggressive acts against civilians,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an e- mailed statement from his office.

Barak, who earlier said Israel was waging an “all-out war” against Hamas, spoke after more than 70 rockets fell in Israel, hitting the port city of Ashdod for the first time. Two people were killed in the rocket attacks.

At least 345 Palestinians have been killed and 1,400 wounded since Israel started its aerial campaign on Gaza on Dec. 27, according to the Palestinian emergency services office in Gaza City. Israeli leaders said they began the bombardment to halt rocket attacks on southern towns by Islamic militants after a six-month cease-fire with Hamas expired Dec. 19.

Channel Two showed footage of tanks massed on Israel’s border with Gaza and soldiers from the ground brigades waiting for orders.

“A ground operation was a likely option from the very start, and the destruction of the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt was a key preparation for that in that it limits Hamas’s ability to bring in new weapons,” said Gerald Steinberg, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University outside Tel Aviv.

Military Zone

The Cabinet on Dec. 28 cleared the way for the army to draft as many as 7,000 reserves and the military yesterday declared a swath of Israel just north of Gaza a closed military zone, where movement and traffic was restricted. The army said schools in towns within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius of Gaza would remain closed until further notice. Classes resume in the rest of the country today after a Hanukkah holiday that began Dec. 23.

“The signs are there that a ground invasion may be coming because of lessons learned in Lebanon,” said Shmuel Sandler, also from Bar Ilan University. “Israel must show it is not afraid to move in ground forces, which is what we need for deterrence.”

The Israeli government and army were criticized by a state inquiry for their handling of the monthlong battle with the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah in south Lebanon in 2006. The government acted hastily and the army relied too heavily on air power to stop rocket attacks over the northern border, the inquiry found.

Hamas Regime

Opposition Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament yesterday that Israel must topple the Hamas regime in Gaza to stop the rockets and urged the government to show determination in its fight against the Islamic militants.

“In recent years, as a result of a policy of weakness and mistakes, our enemies have begun to believe that our national strength is deteriorating. There is nothing more important than changing this perception,” he said.

Palestinian rockets killed an Israeli Arab construction worker in Ashkelon, a port about 15 kilometers north of Gaza, and another person near the communal farm of Nahal Oz, the army said. Four people were seriously wounded in Ashdod, Israel’s second- largest port city, which lies 30 kilometers north of Gaza.

Hamas issued a statement in Gaza City taking responsibility for the rockets. Leaders of Hamas, an Arab acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, say Israel has no right to exist and condemn Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as a stooge for conducting peace talks.

The group seized control of Gaza in 2007 after a brief power-sharing arrangement with Abbas of the rival Fatah party, who called the action a coup.

Impoverished Strip

Israel imposed a blockade on the impoverished strip after Hamas took control, periodically lifting restrictions to allow in humanitarian goods. Fifty-eight trucks with food, medicine and other essentials were allowed in to Gaza yesterday along with five ambulances from the West Bank, an army spokesman said, speaking anonymously by regulation.

Ahmed Qureia, the chief Palestinian negotiator under Abbas, announced a break-off of talks in response to Israel’s bombardments.

“It is impossible to hold peace negotiations with Israel while its army is committing massacres against our people in the Gaza Strip,” Qureia told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking to parliament, called for international support of Israel’s military attack on Hamas. “Israel is fighting, but it is not just Israel’s battle. This is the battle of the free world against terror and we expect support,” she said.

Next Prime Minister

Livni, who heads the ruling Kadima Party; Barak, chairman of the Labor Party; and Netanyahu, are campaigning to become Israel’s next prime minister in a Feb. 10 election. Polls have Livni and Netanyahu running neck and neck. Prospects for Barak, now a distant third, may be determined by his success or failure in the Gaza campaign.

Israel wants to avoid sending troops into Gaza because of the potential for bloodshed on both sides, Gabriela Shalev, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Israelis are united in seeing the air attacks as a “just” action to stop rocket and mortar fire, she said.

At least 51 of the Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombings were civilians, while the majority were members of Hamas, said Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency.

The attacks on Gaza, where about 1.4 million people live and unemployment is 49 percent, have triggered global calls for restraint.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the escalation of violence “unacceptable.” The Bush administration and the German government blamed Hamas for the violence and called on the group to halt rocket attacks on Israel and restore the cease-fire.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net; Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza City through the Tel Aviv newsroomt .

Last Updated: December 29, 2008 17:31 EST