Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says “Hamas will learn today the hard way” that the Israeli army is “determined to protect its soldiers”, Al Jazeera reports citing remarks quoted by the Israeli media.

As we reported earlier, Israel launched a series of strikes on southern and central Gaza in response to alleged attacks on its forces, according to the military, shaking an already fragile ceasefire in the shattered enclave as it traded blame with Hamas for violating the truce.

Katz was quoted as saying he instructed the army to “act forcefully” against Hamas targets in Gaza.

“Hamas will pay a heavy price for any shooting and violation of the ceasefire, and if the message is not understood the intensity of the responses will increase,” he said.