GAZA STRIP, 24 December 2005 — Israel will enforce a new off-limits zone in the northern Gaza Strip with artillery, helicopter and gunboat fire, its latest response to rocket attacks on Israeli towns, defense officials said yesterday.

If enforced, the aerial barrage would mark some of Israel’s toughest military action in Gaza since it withdrew from the coastal strip in September. Palestinian officials yesterday promised to send in more security forces to the border area to prevent the rocket attacks.

Israel’s deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, said the no-go zone was part of Israel’s stepped up response to the rocket fire, which has intensified since the Gaza withdrawal. Israel has already launched missiles and artillery fire at suspected launching areas and killed several Palestinians in recent months.

Israel hopes the Palestinians “will get the message and that this will stop the rocket squads,” Boim told Israel Radio. “If we must, we will have to tighten the screw further.”

But Boim ruled out a major ground offensive in Gaza. He also acknowledged the homemade Qassam rockets, which are highly inaccurate, do not pose a strategic threat to Israel.

The rockets have a range of about 10 kilometers. Since the Gaza pullout, Palestinians have been able to move their launching sites closer to the border fence, bringing the Israeli city of Ashkelon into range, along with sensitive infrastructure installations, including a power plant and a fuel depot.

Preferred launching grounds are the ruins of three Jewish settlements in northern Gaza, close to the border. The no-go zone will be 2.5 kilometers deep and run along the northern and eastern edges of Gaza, defense officials said. Gaza is about 40 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide. The officials said the areas are uninhabited, though they include Palestinian farmland.

Abbas, who has ignored previous Israeli calls to crack down on Palestinians, has ordered the deployment of additional security forces along the border in a bid to restore calm, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

— With input from agencies