Netanyahu: Israel may up intensity of airstrikes on Gaza

"We are prepared for any scenario and our enemies would do well to understand this," he said during a military ceremony on Wednesday.

The remarks were made several hours after Israeli warplanes carried out around two dozen airstrikes on Gaza, which according to medical sources wounded several civilians.

They also come at a time that US President Donald Trump's special envoy Jason Greenblatt and adviser Jared Kushner are set to visit the region.

Israel said that the attacks were carried out in response to rocket and mortar fire launched from within the coastal enclave.

The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas said in a statement that the rocket fire came in response to earlier Israeli aerial assaults against Gaza, stressing that the resistance movement reserves the legitimate right to retaliate against any act of aggression by the occupying enemy.

"The equation will be: bombardment in return for bombardment," they said.

Israel carries out regular air raids on Palestinians in Gaza, which has also been under an inhumane Israeli siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008.

Tensions have been running high along the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return,” demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

Over 130 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more wounded in the violent crackdown.