Mofaz took the decision in talks with army officials following attacks Friday on the southern Israeli city of Sderot, across the border from Gaza.

The reported decision has not been officially confirmed.

Four rockets struck in the Sderot on Friday, with no reports of casualties. Early Saturday another rocket fired from northern Gaza exploded in a field near Sderot, Israeli military sources said.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the first two rocket strikes, saying attacks would continue until the Israeli army ended its occupation of the town of Beit Hanun.

Israel took over Beit Hanun on June 29 in a bid to prevent militants from firing rockets into southern Israel after a strike killed two people in Sderot.

The Palestinian Authority has declared Beit Hanun a "disaster area" and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has organised food deliveries to the besieged community.

At least 60 makeshift Qassam rockets have been fired from northern Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation in Beit Hanun, 42 of them exploding in Israeli territory, military radio said.

Meanwhile, an Israeli helicopter destroyed a metal workshop belonging to the father of a suicide bomber in Gaza City late Friday, slightly wounding two people, a Palestinian security source said.

The source said the workshop belonging to Saleh Al-Riyashi was located in the city's eastern Zeitun district.

The helicopter hit it with at least one missile.

An Israeli military official said the raid targetted a workshop Hamas used to produce its makeshift Qassam rockets.