JERUSALEM, July 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday that Israel would strike against militants to ensure the planned withdrawal from Gaza goes smoothly.

   "The pullout cannot commence under fire," he told Channel 2 television. "We will take all steps against Islamic Jihad without any limitations. The response to terror acts will be strong and harsh."

   "There is no chance to reach a peace agreement as long as terror occurs," he said.

   Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Friday evening ordered the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip but told commanders to wait for the diplomatic level to determine when the operation would get underway.

   Mofaz said Israel will take all necessary steps against Palestinian military organizations, but will also grant the Palestinian National Authority an opportunity to take control over the groups on its own.

   Israel resumed its policy of targeted killing of Palestinian militants Friday, killing six members of the Palestinian Islamic Resistant Movement Hamas in airstrikes on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These were the first targeted strikes against militants since September last year.

   Israeli television news programs showed IDF vehicles massing around Gaza. Media reports quoted security sources as saying Israel could raid militant strongholds in the area in the coming days in a bid to stop rocket launchers. The IDF had no comment.

   The Palestinian National Authority said Israeli airstrikes would only lead to escalating violence. 

   PAN Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, struggling to salvage a five-month-old truce and keep control in the face of a growing Hamas challenge, ordered police to stop militants firing rockets at Israeli target.

   Israeli helicopters carried out strike on Hamas gunmen after an Israeli woman was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza on Thursday and a Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis in Israeli coastal town of Netanya on Tuesday. Enditem