The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday deployed an artillery battery opposite the Gaza Strip for the first time in a year, local news service Ynet reported.

The move indicated that Israeli military was continuing its preparations for a possible ground incursion into the Hamas-ruled enclave as part of its "Cast Lead" operation, said the report.

The operation, which started on Saturday and continued on Sunday, have so far killed 285 Palestinians, said Mu'awia Hassanien, director of emergencies at the health ministry in Gaza, adding that 900 have been wounded, 180 of them seriously.

According to Israeli military sources, the artillery battery was deployed as backup for any future ground incursion into Gaza.

The artillery would be used according to the IDF's most rigorous protocol in order to avoid harming innocent civilians, added the sources.

Israeli defense establishment has been consulting with its legal experts on the legality of using artillery fire on Gaza, said Ynet.

It added that the discussions, prompted by past reports suggesting such fire resulted in severe civilian casualties, lead to the defense establishment subjecting such fire to the strictest protocol possible.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved that the IDF will call 6,700 reservists to duty, as part of the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

Israeli defense officials said some reservists have already been mobilized to help protect communities on the Gaza border from retaliatory Palestinian rocket salvos, adding that new reservists would help complete the IDF' preparations for a possible escalation of the fighting.

Meanwhile, hundreds of IDF infantry and armored corps troops headed for Gaza border early Sunday in preparation for a possible ground invasion, daily Ha'aretz quoted Israeli military officials as saying.