Israel will exact a “very heavy price” from anyone who attacks its civilians, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu said hours after a spate of attacks killed seven in southern Israel.

“If the terror organisations think they can harm our citizens without a response, Israel will make them pay a very heavy price,” he said in a televised address.

“I have laid down a principle. If you harm Israel, we will respond immediately and very strongly.”

Seven Israelis were killed in a series of coordinated attacks in southern Israel yesterday as security sources said the army had shot dead seven of the attackers.

Major-General Tal Russo, head of the southern command, said that six Israeli civilians and a soldier had been killed in the spate of attacks on two desert roads near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

“Six civilians and a fighter were killed,” he told a news conference in the south.

Standing next to him was Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who confirmed that the Israel Defence Forces was already striking back at those in the Gaza Strip believed to be responsible for the deadly attacks.

Palestinian medics said an Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed six people, just hours after the deadly attacks in southern Israel.

Israeli military sources confirmed that air strikes were carried out in Gaza. “The IDF will continue to act with all its power and even now, the IDF is hitting Gaza as we speak against the Popular Resistance Committees,” Mr Barak said, referring to a Gaza-based militant group.

Israeli military spokeswoman Avital Leibowitz said in a posting on Twitter that some of the militants who were killed in the gunbattle were armed with explosive belts. “Some of the terrorists involved in today’s attack on Israelis carried explosive belts and grenades,” she said.