Israel is stepping up its assault on Hamas in retaliation for the death of an Israeli child killed in a mortar attack yesterday.

Four-year-old Daniel Tragerman became the first Israeli child to be killed, after Hamas launched strikes on a southern Israeli village close to the Gaza border.

A spokesman for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ofir Gendelman, made a statement on Twitter on last night which said that the PM “sends his condolences to the family of the four-year-old boy that was killed this afternoon by a mortar round fired by Hamas.

“Hamas will pay a heavy price for this attack. IDF [Israel Defence Forces] & ISA [Israel Securities Authority] will intensify ops against Hamas until the goal of #ProtectiveEdge is achieved

Mr Gendelman then said that Hamas had launched the mortar round from adjacent to a shelter currently used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), but later retracted this and confirmed it was a shelter used by Hamas.

In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Show all 18 1 /18 In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian woman uses a piece of reebar she found amid the rubble, for support as she walks past destroyed homes in a street in Beit Hanun, northern Gaza Getty Images In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian men wait for their names to be called to receive a ration of food aid at a UN compound in Gaza City Getty Images In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Posters calling people to boycott Israeli products Getty Images In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Residents of a neighborhood in Gaza City gather to put out a fire at a soap factory moments after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian, who was injured in clashes in the Gaza strip, is carried on a stretcher to an ambulance after the arrival of a group of injured Palestinians at Ankara's Esenboga airport In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian, who was injured in clashes in the Gaza strip, is carried on a stretcher to an ambulance after the arrival of a group of injured Palestinians at Ankara's Esenboga airport In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Firefighters try to extinguish a fire that witnesses say was caused by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Israel has accepted a new Gaza ceasefire proposed by Egyptian mediators and will send negotiators to Cairo if the truce holds, Israeli officials said In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke from fires caused by Israeli strikes rises over Gaza City In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict People watch as a fire burns in a building that witnesses say was hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian fire fighters extinguish a blaze at a soap factory moments after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian firefighters try to put out the fire at a cleaning materials factory after it was hit by Israeli airstrike in Al-Meena neghbourhood in the west of Gaza City In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians react as they put out a fire in an apartment which witnesses said was hit by an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative kisses the body of Palestinian Nader Driss, whom medics said died of a gunshot wound by Israeli troops during clashes at a protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, during his funeral in the West Bank City of Hebron In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Relatives of Palestinian woman Amani Baraka, whom medics said was killed in an Israeli air strike, mourn during her funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian boy, whom medics said was wounded by Israeli shelling, is visited by members of a local aid society wearing costumes at a hospital in Gaza City In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict Jamal Doghmosh, a 48-year-old Palestinian mechanic who was injured in an Israeli air strike, recuperates at Shifa hospital in Gaza City. When Doghmosh woke up in hospital after the attack, he could not hear properly and found that three fingers from his right hand were also gone. He is one of thousands of Palestinians who have been left physically disabled by the conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict An injured Palestinian man from the Al-Elaa family sits inside his house after it was hit by an Israeli military strike in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict - summer 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict A view of the living room of the Okasha family house destroyed by an Israeli strike, in Jebaliya refugee camp, Gaza Strip. Two female members of the family were critically wounded in the strike

A spokesman for UNRWA, Chris Gunness, strongly denied that one of its facilities had been used in the attack.

At least four people were killed in Gaza on Friday, Palestinians officials say, pushing the death toll further over the 2,000 mark.

Most of the Palestinian death toll has been civilian, including 320 under the age of 12, UN figures show. On the Israeli side, 68 have now been killed, most of whom were soldiers.

Friday also saw 18 alleged spies gunned down in Gaza in a crackdown on those who collaborate with Israel, which was also in response to the killing of three top Hamas military commanders the day before.

The latest threat of further violence by the Israeli government comes as Hamas signs a pledge to back any Palestinian effort to join the International Criminal Court.

Confirmed by two senior Hamas officials, the move could expose Israel as well as Hamas to war crimes investigations.

Israel also accuses Hamas of being no different to Isis: "Hamas is ISIS, ISIS is Hamas", Mr Netanyahu is quoted as saying.

On the PM's official Twitter account, an graphic had been posted showing slain American journalist James Foley - who died at the hands of Isis militants - to equate it with Hamas. The tweet was later removed and replaced with one showing a different image.

Hamas spokesman Izzat al-Rishq criticised the move: "The attempt by Netanyahu and his spokesman Ofir Gendelman to link Hamas and compare us with other groups is a deception and disinformation campaign that will not fool anyone," he is quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying.

"We strongly condemn and reject how Netanyahu, Gendelman and the Israeli media exploit the picture of the slain American journalist James Foley who was executed in a brutal manner.

"We condemn the low and cheap use of this image without any respect for the sanctity of the dead."

The latest bout of strikes follows the collapse of Egypt-brokered ceasefire talks, in which Hamas said it would only halt fire is both Israel and Egypt agree to lift the blockage and allow trade and travel through Gaza’s borders.