Israeli military planes dropped leaflets onto the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, warning Palestinian residents there against moving around ahead of a coming military move there, witnesses said.

"Israeli troops are operating across the Gaza Strip and there will be military operations in your area," said the leaflet, demanding Palestinian residents in northern Gaza to avoid moving in the area and keep away from rocket launching sites used by Palestinian militants in the area.

The leaflet also warned that those who hampered the coming operation would be endangered.

Meanwhile, local residents said that Israeli tanks deployed along the northern Gaza border had intensified artillery shellings on the area.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz gave a green light to Israeli troops to widen an ongoing major ground offensive in Gaza, saying that forces were to enter the northern Gaza Strip in coming hours.

The Israeli army crossed the border into the southern Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in its first major ground operation into the coastal strip which Israel quit last summer after a 38-year- long occupation.

Israel says the operation is aimed to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid on Sunday, vowing "extreme actions" to secure his return.

Source: Xinhua