Netanyahu declares preparation for 'scenarios' other than Gaza amid Iran's retaliatory attack threat

AMID concerned of Iran's retaliatory attack, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that the Jewish country is keeping up its war in Gaza but is also preparing for scenarios in other areas.  

This comes after reports of Iran preparing to strike Israel in response to the killing of senior Iranian commanders surfaced.

Netanyahu said that his government is prepared to meet all security needs of Israel, be it defensive or offensive.

The Israeli PM, in comments released by his office, after his Tel Nof air force base said, "Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively."

The April 1 airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus killed Iran's senior general and six other officers, following which Israel has been bracing for a possible retaliation.

Israel, however, has said it was responsible for the attack, but Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Jewish country "must be punished and it shall be".

Netanyahu's comment comes at a time when Israeli troops and warplanes have begun an operation in central Gaza which the military said is "aimed at destroying infrastructure of armed Palestinian groups".

Most Israeli troops have been pulled out of Gaza to prepare for an assault on its southern city, Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering. Fighting has continued in various areas of the enclave.

"It was as if the occupation army was launching a new war," Raouf Abed, 20, told Reuters via chat app from in Deir Al-Balah to the south of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp. "The explosions were non-stop, the sounds came from different directions," he said.

"Every time we hope there will be a ceasefire, Israel escalates the aggression, as if they are trying to pressure Hamas by hitting on us, the civilians," he said.