[An Nahar] Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday Israel did not seek "adventures" in Gazoo after Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, accused it of assassinating an official, and suggested the group itself could have killed him.
Hamas, which runs the Gazoo Strip, has blamed Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and its "collaborators" for the March 24 killing of Mazen Faqha in the Paleostinian territory.
Israeli officials had previously not commented on the killing.
"We are not looking for adventures," Lieberman said during a visit to the Israeli city of Sderot near the Gazoo border, according to his office.
"We are conducting security policy with responsibility and determination.
"It does not matter what Hamas says, it's important what the Jews do."
He added: "Let Hamas do what it wants and we will do what we need to do. Hamas is known for internal liquidations, for settling accounts. I suggest that they look there for it."
In response, both Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, accused Lieberman of seeking to evade responsibility for the killing.
"The Israeli occupier bears all responsibility for the liquidation of Mazen Faqha and the ensuing results," Hamas front man Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.
The killing has raised the possibility of a response from Hamas and a fresh escalation of violence.
On Saturday, Hamas vowed "radical measures" against Paleostinians who "collaborated" with Israel, with interior ministry front man Iyad al-Bozum saying that could mean arrests, trials and even executions.
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