Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the country's military is prepared to extend its operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
His comments came after the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, was killed.
He died when when his car was targeted during Israeli air strikes in the territory.
These followed a wave of rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza.
"Today we've sent a clear message to Hamas and to other terrorist organisations," Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address.
"And if there is a need, the Israeli Defence Forces are prepared to widen the operation. We will continue to do everything to defend our citizens."
Jabari and another Hamas official who died alongside him were among at least nine people killed in Gaza on Wednesday by the Israeli strikes and that number would probably rise, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansou, told reporters in New York.
Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago.
Outside the hospital to which Jabari's body was taken, angry Gaza residents chanted "retaliation" and "We want you to hit Tel Aviv tonight". more
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