Israel PM Olmert warns Hamas Israel may hit hard

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday that the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip must halt attacks on Israel or risk the Jewish state launching military action on a hitherto unseen scale.

"We hope that we will not have to act against Hamas in other ways with the military power that Israel hasn't yet started to use in a serious manner in order to stop it," Olmert said after meeting U.S. President George W. Bush in Jerusalem.