Israel is on a high state of alert, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, amid growing expectations that Iran or its allies will retaliate for the killing of senior leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas this week.

"Israel is very prepared for any scenario, both defensively and offensively," he said, according to remarks released by his office following a visit to the Israeli military's Home Front Command. "We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena."