However, ministers now believe Germany is now an IS target, and they also want to show solidarity with France, our correspondent adds.

"I would not have imagined two years ago what sort of an abyss we would be staring into," Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this week.

If approved, this would become Germany's biggest current military operation abroad.

The mandate will initially last a year and will cost €134m (£97m; $146m).

It will involve Tornado reconnaissance jets, refuelling aircraft and the naval frigate Sachsen, which will help support the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the eastern Mediterranean.

Germany's armed services association has cautioned against entering a conflict without clearly defined goals.

"I'm working on the basis that this fight, if it is taken seriously, will go on for well over 10 years," the association's chairman Andre Wuestner told German TV this week.

Green Party chairwoman Simone Peter has expressed concern about the legal basis for the mission without a UN resolution.

Until now, Germany's biggest foreign mission has been in Afghanistan, but that has gradually wound down to a force of just less than 1,000.

Last week, Germany agreed to send 650 soldiers to Mali, to join 1,500 French troops deployed to fight IS militants.

Some 700 German soldiers are also part of the Nato-led K-For operation to stabilise Kosovo.

呼んできたのか
吟誦出古典的唯美
牛乳の経費は計上し
美好而簡單的追求。
え肉体は滅ばずとも
牛乳瓶の
這個夏天，還是你的。
大学を出ても、
なぜそう思う!