Israel on Friday threatened widescale military action against the Gaza Strip after launching a string of air strikes in response to rocket fire from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave. However, the United States urged restraint on both sides, saying there was no military solution to the conflict.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom warned of a new offensive on the coastal territory unless militant rocket attacks ceased.

"If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop, it seems we will have to raise the level of our activity and step up our actions against Hamas," Shalom told public radio.

"We won't allow frightened children to again be raised in bomb shelters and so, in the end, it will force us to launch another military operation. "I hope we can avoid it, but it is one of the options we have, and if we don't have a choice, we will use it in the near future," he said.

"We call on the international community to intervene to stop this escalation and Israeli aggression," he said in a statement. Israel 'closer to death' if it attacks Gaza: Ahmadinejad

Nearly 20 rockets have been fired into Israel in the past month, including one that killed a Thai farm worker, in the worst violence since the end of Israel's 22-day assault on Gaza that began in December 2008.