The deputy head of Israel's internal security agency told Sunday's cabinet meeting that the Hamas leadership in Damascus has ordered cells operating in Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) to prepare and execute a mega-attack against Israelis.

“There were clear orders from the Hamas headquarters abroad to Hamas here to carry out a mass casualty attack in Israel,” the official, known only as Y, was quoted as saying by Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper.

Y suggested that Hamas feels it needs a successful large-scale attack against Israel to boost its image among Palestinians and the Muslim world.

A Palestinian source in Ramallah confirmed for The Jerusalem Post that a mega-attack had been ordered from Damascus.

A Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament later insisted that his group had not decided unilaterally to resume suicide attacks against Israel, reported Israel Radio. Yahiya Moussa did threaten, however, that Israeli military pressure on Hamas in the West Bank “could lead to an explosion.”