Updated

The head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service says foreign nationals linked to the global jihadist movement have infiltrated the Gaza Strip.

Service chief Yuval Diskin told ministers at Sunday's meeting of the Israeli Cabinet that there had been "a steady trickle into Gaza of foreigners linked to global jihad," according to an official present at the closed-door meeting.

Diskin did not elaborate or cite evidence.

Gaza's Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad dismissed Diskin's charge as "baseless propaganda." The militant group Hamas controls the West Bank.

He added that "there is no al-Qaida or any other organization in Gaza."