Israel braced for the possibility of a retaliatory attack after its suspected killing of Iranian generals in Damascus this week, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would harm “whoever harms us or plans to harm us”, Reuters reports.

His comments came after Israel’s armed forces — stretched by nearly six months of offensive in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese front — announced they were suspending leave for all combat units, a day after they said they were mobilising more troops for air defence units.

“For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu said at the start of a security cabinet meeting late on Thursday.

“We will know how to defend ourselves and we will act according to the simple principle of whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them,” he said.

Reuters journalists and residents of Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv said GPS services had been disrupted — an apparent measure to help ward off guided missiles. However, two Iranian sources said Tehran’s response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.