Israel threatened to use targeted killings in the Gaza Strip as well as abroad in response to a recent wave of terrorist attacks in the West Bank, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Monday.
According to the source, the suspected warnings were relayed to the Hamas terrorist organization ruling Gaza by Egyptian security officials currently visiting the Palestinian territory.
The leaders of the Islamist group made no comment.
Two Egyptian delegations of intelligence officers and civilian engineers traveled to Gaza for talks with Hamas officials on ways to preserve the ceasefire with Israel and to advance plans to rebuild the territory following the war in May.
Hamas, meanwhile, expressed to the Egyptians its dissatisfaction with Cairo's failure to keep its promises to ease travel restrictions on Gazans, Al-Akhbar said.
3 View gallery
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a Hamas rally in Gaza, shortly after the May War
(Photo: AP)
Hamas also pleaded for a "legitimate struggle until [Israel] is expelled from all Palestinian lands and the settlers are evicted."
Israel's warning follows the shooting attack near the West Bank outpost of Homesh last Thursday in which 25-year-old Yehuda Dimentman was killed by a Palestinian terrorist.
This latest attack follows several others in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - which prompted the United Nations' envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, to express alarm at the "escalation of violence" between the two long time foes.
3 View gallery
Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas stand at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip
(Photo: AFP)
"These tragic incidents underscore the volatility of the situation and the urgency for political, religious and community leaders to talk to each other and reject violence," said Wennesland.