Israeli PM warns Hamas of "aggressive" attack

JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Gaza's Hamas of an "aggressive" military response if the unrest along the border fence continues.

The remark was made during a security assessment that Netanyahu, who also serves as Israel's defense minister, held in southern Israel with commanders of the Gaza Division and the Southern Command.

He warned Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, of harsh retaliation. "Hamas should understand now that any display of aggression will be met with an even more aggressive response by Israel," Netanyahu said.

"They would do well to understand this now rather than later," he added.

His remark was made as an Israeli army tank fired artillery at a Hamas post in the northern Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A military spokesperson said the artillery was a response to shots that were fired at an Israeli military position near the northern Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday evening. No injuries were reported.

It was the fifth consecutive day that Israeli warplanes, drones, or tanks have been targeting Gaza military posts, facilities, and training camps. The army says the attacks were a retaliation to explosives attached to balloons and rockets sent from Gaza towards southern Israel.

Gaza militants have been for the past months occasionally sending balloons with incendiary materials or explosives amidst protests and clashes along the fence separating between the besieged enclave and Israel.

At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the protest started last March.

The escalating violence has triggered fears that an informal truce, agreed last November between Israel and Hamas, could collapse.