Members of the al-Qaeda terror network are in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claimed today.
"We have recently received information according to which a few al-Qaeda members have infiltrated the area and that others are in Lebanon, where they are collaborating closely with Hezbollah," Mr Sharon said.
"There is no doubt that Israel is one of al-Qaeda's targets but we are taking the appropriate measures to guarantee security by carrying out many arrests, which lead to more arrests," he added.
Three Israelis and 10 Kenyans were killed in a suicide attack on a hotel near the Kenyan port of Mombasa last Thursday, shortly after missiles narrowly missed an Israeli charter flight taking off from there with 261 passengers.
The presence of al-Qaeda in the Gaza Strip has been suspected for some time but never proved.
Yesterday, Mr Sharon's office announced a US citizen was arrested at Ben Gurion airport last month on suspicion of transferring funds to terrorists linked to al-Qaeda.
AFP