Feb 27 (Reuters) - A spike in Israeli-Palestinian fighting along the border of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday raised speculation Israel could step up its military action against militants in the Hamas-controlled territory. Here are some options that officials say Israeli leaders have considered and the perceived pros and cons for Israel: ALL-OUT INVASION: PROS: -- The best-equipped army in the Middle East, with total control of the air, could overwhelm with relative ease Hamas guerrillas and their allies, who may number around 35,000. -- It might quieten government critics who demand action to halt daily rocket fire, mainly on the border town of Sderot, and pre-empt Hamas's use of longer-range weapons like Katyushas. CONS: -- Despite massive superiority in firepower, taking and holding the urban jungle of Gaza's Palestinian refugee camps would certainly cost Israeli lives, even if lessons have been learned from the 2006 Lebanon war against Hezbollah, when 114 Israeli troops were killed in a month of fighting. Hamas might also kill an Israeli soldier it captured in 2006. - However angry Israelis are at rockets fired from Gaza, these have killed only three Israelis in the past year. The outcry over the Lebanon war has made Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his team wary of public reaction to Israeli casualties. -- Heavy fighting would cause casualties among Gaza's 1.5 million civilians, of whom about half are children. In Lebanon, 900 civilians died compared to 300 Hezbollah fighters. Israel risks condemnation abroad, and possibly even sanctions. -- Although Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shuns Hamas, a bloodbath in Gaza would put Abbas under huge domestic pressure to break off new, U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel. -- Retaking Gaza would leave the problem of whether Israel would resume the occupation it ended in 2005 after 38 years. It has vowed not to. But withdrawing after an invasion might see more hostilities from even more embittered Gazans. There has been talk of foreign peacekeepers, as in Lebanon -- but few nations have much appetite for taking on Gaza's problems. LIMITED FORCE: PROS: -- Some Israeli officials speak of a swift move into parts of the 45-km (30-mile) long strip of coast, notably into the relatively thinly populated "Philadelphi Corridor" in the south that would cut Hamas off from supply tunnels from Egypt and into northern areas from which rockets are hitting Israel. -- Such a move, officials say, could be accompanied by air strikes and commando operations to kill the Hamas leadership and let Abbas's Fatah loyalists take control of the enclave. -- Domestic politics may play a part. Some believe Defence Minister Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and senior general newly returned to politics as leader of Olmert's main coalition ally Labour, could use a successful strike against Hamas to enhance his standing before a possible early election. CONS: -- Even a limited operation risks casualties, both Israeli and civilian Palestinian, and their consequences. -- It is unclear how hard it may be to dislodge Hamas even without senior leaders, and the rocket fire might continue. -- Although Fatah has hundreds of thousands of supporters in Gaza, Hamas routed its forces in June. Hamas has pushed hard a message that Abbas is collaborating with Israel. And Hamas's 2006 election win confirmed its popularity in Gaza. SANCTIONS AND DIALOGUE: PROS: -- Israeli judges, not always helpful to the military, have ruled it lawful to cut energy and other supplies to Gaza. Israel has shown it can seal off Gaza quite easily. -- By pushing Gazans to make a connection between hardship and Hamas rule at a time when aid money is flowing into the Fatah-run West Bank, Israel, its Western allies -- and Abbas -- hope Palestinians in Gaza will turn against the Islamists. CONS: -- Sanctions so far have had little obvious effect on Hamas. And while both sides say they could negotiate, they are poles apart. Hamas refuses to recognise Israel and wants it to halt all military activity in the West Bank or Gaza and end the blockade before it would talk. Israel and its Western allies say Hamas must accept Israel's right to exist and end all violence. -- Sanctions have drawn international condemnation and accusations Israel is breaking the Geneva Conventions because it is still effectively the occupying power. Hamas scored points with many when it forced open Gaza's Egypt border last month. -- The embargo has hit Israeli businesses which long sold into Gaza and bought Gaza's fruit, flowers and other goods. TIMING: Whatever Israel does, the following may affect its timing: -- RICE: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to visit next week to check on talks between Olmert and Abbas. Israel will not want to hear her complain about actions in Gaza. -- HOLIDAYS: Israel will shut down in much of the second half of April for the Passover holiday. Olmert and Barak will be reluctant to engage the nation in warfare if they can avoid it. -- BUSH: Shortly afterwards President George W. Bush and other dignitaries are expected at events around the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, to be marked on May 8. Another bad time for a war. -- ELECTION: Although a parliamentary election is not due until 2010, Olmert's coalition is fragile. He is personally very unpopular, faces right-wing opposition to peace talks with Abbas and ambitious rivals within his own Kadima party and Labour. (Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Keith Weir) (For the latest story on the Israeli-Palestinian fighting click on: [nL2787228] and Hamas options [nL27108591])
Shoes lie beside the body of an Israeli killed after a rocket attack in the southern town of Sderot February 27, 2008. A Palestinian rocket launched from the Gaza Strip killed ...
