Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accompanied by aides and security guards on a rocky slope during his tour of the southern border with Egypt at Nitzana, in the Negev Desert, March 7, 2019. Photo: Jim Hollander / Pool via Reuters.

During a visit to southern Israel on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Gaza Strip-ruling Hamas over a new wave of violence emanating from the coastal enclave.

“I am aware that in recent days there has been a renewal of Hamas aggression in all sorts of ways,” the Israeli leader said. “Hamas should understand now that any display of aggression will be met with a very vigorous response on Israel’s part. They would do well to understand this now rather than later.”

Early Thursday, IAF planes hit a number of Hamas targets in Gaza in response to the launch of a rocket and several explosive-rigged balloons into Israel.

Later on Thursday, an IDF tank struck a Hamas military position in northern Gaza, after shots were fired at an Israeli tank on the border.

Netanyahu’s trip to the south included a stop at the fence — built at the start of this decade — on Israel’s border with Egypt.

“This fence is a phenomenal success,” he said. “It has completely stopped the entry of hundreds of thousands of people from Africa and the entry into Israel of terrorists from Sinai.”