Israel has retaliated against a cyberattack with an airstrike.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had thwarted a cyber attack from Hamas. In response, the country's military then bombed a building in the Gaza Strip from which the Hamas hackers allegedly operated. "HamasCyberHQ.exe has been removed," the IDF said in a tweet.

The incident underscores an ongoing debate in cybersecurity over how countries should respond to cyber attacks: Is an airstrike going too far?

Governments have largely refrained from responding to cyber attacks with military force. In 2015, the US assassinated an Islamic state hacker named Junaid Hussain with an airstrike, but he was not targeted for his cyber activities alone.

Instead, many countries retaliate with sanctions and their own cyber capabilties. But many experts have questioned if such tactics simply amount to a slap on the wrist. It doesn't help that international norms on cyberwarfare remain undefined.

So far, the Israeli military has declined to offer details about the alleged Hamas cyber attack, saying doing so might reveal its cyber capabilties to Palestinian militants. The IDF has only mentioned that the cyber attack was focused on "harming the quality of life of Israeli citizens," according to The Times of Israel.

The airstrike also occurred during intense fighting between Israel and Hamas over the weekend, resulting in a barrage of rocket fire and bombing runs. According to the IDF, it destroyed 280 targets in Gaza during the fighting. "Hamas no longer has cyber capabilities after our strike," an IDF spokesperson told The Times of Israel.