JERUSALEM – The Israeli government came under increasing pressure Tuesday to respond harshly to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip after a barrage wounded dozens of soldiers as they slept in their tents at an Israeli army base.

Despite the violence, U.S. officials urged Israel to show restraint, fearing heavy action in Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamic militant Hamas, could jeopardize new momentum in peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has faced growing calls to respond to the near-daily rocket attacks out of Gaza. Israel has limited its response to brief, limited ground incursions and airstrikes aimed at rocket squads.

Late Tuesday, Israeli aircraft destroyed a rocket launcher in northern Gaza. No one was hurt.

After Tuesday’s attack, along with a rocket last week that exploded near a nursery school in the southern town of Sderot, many Israelis are growing impatient.

“The question is not whether to create deterrence, but when,” Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, a member of Olmert’s ruling Kadima party, told Israel Radio.

Olmert held a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday with top security officials, where they discussed the attack. Officials said Israel decided to hold off on major military action for now, though it might step up air attacks on militants.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed, said Israel is hesitant about opening a second front at a time of rising tensions with Syria.

Israeli military officials confirmed Tuesday that the army is on high alert along the Syrian border amid allegations by Syria that Israeli aircraft entered Syrian airspace last week. Israel has refused to comment on last Thursday’s incident.

The army is also reluctant to mobilize large numbers of troops during the Jewish New Year holiday, which begins Wednesday. Officials also are wary of damaging recent progress in peace efforts ahead of the U.S.-sponsored peace conference.

In a routine measure, the military ordered the closure of Israel’s borders with the West Bank and Gaza ahead of the New Year holiday. The statement did not say when the closure, banning Palestinians from Israel, would be lifted, but said some exceptions would be made, mostly for humanitarian cases.