Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday that there are no limits to military actions against Palestinian militants' rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Olmert told Army Radio that the disengagement plan, under which Israel completed the withdrawal of soldiers and some 8,500 settlers from all Gaza in mid-September, has increased the military's flexibility of response.

"The prime minister (Ariel Sharon) has no limitations. No one is stopping him... We're doing what is right every moment in order to reduce terrorist acts as much as possible," he said, dismissing reports that Sharon's hands were tied in fighting Qassam rocket shelling.

Olmert added that the upcoming elections have no bearing on Sharon's decision-making in Gaza and in no way "tied his hands".

Israel kept up artillery and air strike pressure on Gaza, attacking six access routes to Qassam rocket launching sites overnight Wednesday.

The army fired some 30 shells at launch sites in northern Gaza as part of its efforts to curb the recent series of homemade Qassams fired by militants towards Israel.

"Operation Blue Skies" is set to continue as long as militants continue firing on Israel Defense Forces sources said Thursday morning.

"When we were deep in Gaza, there was shelling and terror, and we couldn't carry out operations like Blue Skies because the Jewish population was in the heart of the Arab population," Olmert said, responding to contentions that Sharon refrained from a ground assault into Gaza because that would amount to an admission that his disengagement plan was an error.

At the time, "the only way to fight terror was to go in deeper, have more friction and to endanger ourselves more. From that standpoint, now we have much more flexibility and ability to use the means we have," he said.

Israel declared the northern Gaza area off-limits late Wednesday, in what the army called a bid to stem cross-border rocket salvos. Israeli artillery has since fired at least 12 shells in response to continued rocket launches.

Before the shelling, Israeli officers met with Palestinian representatives in Gaza and explained to them the exact borders of the no-go zone, Israel Radio reported.

Palestinian witnesses said a militant was wounded by the shelling when he entered the no-go zone, an area that runs along the border with Israel.

Source: Xinhua