Israel was poised on Wednesday to broaden a Gaza offensive after Hamas militants fired a rocket into a main Israeli city for the first time, an attack that deepened a 10-day-old crisis over an abducted soldier. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert planned to consult with his security cabinet later in the day to discuss stronger military action after militants carried out their deepest rocket strike yet against Israel, government officials said.An upgraded Qassam rocket, powered by two engines instead of the usual single motor, and flying 12 km (7 miles), slammed into a school yard in the coastal city of Ashkelon, the army said. The attack in the centre of Ashkelon, a city of about 115,000 and the site of one of Israel's main power plants, caused no injuries. But Olmert made clear the rocket had crossed a red line, even after gunmen from Hamas and two other groups stunned Israel by abducting Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid launched from Gaza on June 25.
"This is an escalation without precedent in the terrorist war waged by the Hamas movement that now controls the Palestinian Authority," Olmert said in a speech at a U.S. Independence Day celebration at the American ambassador's house. "This (rocket) attack ... will have unprecedented, far-reaching consequences. The Hamas organisation will be the first to feel them," he said, after its Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the strike.