Occupied Jerusalem, January 17 (QNA) - Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post said on Tuesday that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) General Staff ordered the Southern Command to prepare for a possible large operation in Gaza that could occur within a few months. "Preparations include finalizing operational plans and distributing them between the various units that would be deployed inside Gaza," the newspaper said. Preparations are underway for the operation that senior officers said could be significantly larger than 2008''s 22-day-long Operation Cast Lead. "Gaza is possibly Israel’s most volatile front today. It is a front that can explode at any given moment," an IDF General Staff member said this week. Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on Gaza in December 2008 against Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) militants claiming the lives of about 1400 Palestinians, injuring thousands and causing a major infrastructure damage. (QNA) A M/MD