The officials spoke a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected a call by the Palestinian prime minister for a cease-fire. The offensive, launched in response to the soldier's capture, has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and left more than 40 Palestinians dead.

"The simplest thing really is to release the soldier, stop the rocket fire and then things will return to normal," Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who is close to Olmert, told Israel Radio.

"The goal of the operation is simply to stop the terrorism," he added, saying the operation will continue until the Palestinians take action.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, ministers expressed unanimous support for Olmert's refusal to negotiate with the militants, his rejection of the truce offer and his decision to continue the Gaza offensive, participants said.

Israeli ground troops entered Gaza on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants crossed into southern Israel and captured an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19. While the army's initial aim was to free the soldier, the mission was expanded to halt continuing rocket attacks from northern Gaza.

Israeli forces have battered the coastal strip with heavy artillery barrages and airstrikes in the army's largest operation in Gaza since troops and settlers withdrew last summer.

Palestinian hospital officials say 44 Palestinians have died in the offensive and more than 160 have been wounded. One Israeli soldier was killed last week.

In Gaza City, hundreds of people joined a funeral procession for the family. The body of 6-year-old Rawan Hajaj was carried on a bloodstained stretcher, her face exposed and body covered in a flag of the Islamic Jihad militant group. In a show of unity, gunmen from rival Palestinian factions fired into the air.

Late Saturday, the United Nations accused Israel of widespread human rights violations and hardship to civilians. It said the operations "have seen innocent civilians, including children, killed, brought increased misery to hundreds of thousands of people and .. will wreak far-reaching harm on Palestinian society."

Israeli officials rejected the criticism.

"Anybody who calls this operation disproportionate has no clue about the facts on the ground. We have been attacked and bombarded for months and weeks," Cabinet minister Yitzhak Herzog said Sunday. "With all due respect to all those who criticize us, if anything of this nature would have happened in their homeland, they would have acted much worse."