Gaza City, Dec. 31 (AP): Israel resisted mounting international pressure today to suspend its devastating air offensive against militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza, sending more troops and tanks to the border as signs of an impending ground invasion multiplied.

A long column of tanks and other army vehicles, two and three abreast, was strung out along an access road to Gaza. Dozens of tanks were parked in a rain-sodden field on the frontier. Commanders are moving forward with preparations for a possible ground operations, said an Israeli defence official.

President George W. Bush believes the militant group Hamas needs to stop firing rockets at Israel as a first step to a ceasefire and he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “President Bush thinks that Hamas needs to stop firing rockets and that is what will be the first steps in a ceasefire,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in Texas.