Jerusalem ? On the eve of Hamas’ entry into the Palestinian government, Israel’s acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and his senior advisers neared agreement Friday on a series of steps that would effectively isolate the Gaza Strip and deprive the nearly bankrupt Palestinian Authority of funding once the radical Islamic group forms a Cabinet, according to Foreign Ministry officials.

Olmert’s security Cabinet did not make a decision on how to proceed after today, when Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, becomes the majority bloc in the Palestinian parliament.

The recommendations, which the Cabinet is scheduled to decide on Sunday, include preventing the 4,000 Palestinians in Gaza who work in Israel from continuing to do so, tightening procedures at crossing points between Gaza and Israel, and canceling permits for Palestinian legislators to travel between the strip and the West Bank.