Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau has called on all Israelis vacationing on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to return to Israel, fearing possible terrorist attacks during the upcoming Easter season.
The bureau issued a travel warning on Saturday after receiving intelligence data indicating that "terrorist groups were continuing their efforts to abduct Israeli tourists on the Sinai Peninsula for bargaining purposes."
"The security situation in Sinai is unstable and the [terrorists'] intent to carry out attacks poses a real danger to the Israelis presently located in Sinai," the bureau said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Israeli combat jets attacked on Saturday a group of Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip, killing three people. According to the Israeli military, the group was planning to kidnap Israeli citizens during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Hamas condemned the airstrike and vowed revenge.
The Gaza Strip has been subject to Israeli attacks and economic blockade since the radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the enclave in the summer of 2007, ousting President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.
TEL AVIV/GAZA, April 3 (RIA Novosti)
