TEL AVIV ø Israeli authorities have imposed what officials termed an unprecedented alert against a mass-casualty Islamic insurgency attack.

Officials said Israel has received information of plans by Islamic insurgency groups to carry out a series of major attacks on Israeli civilians in both the Jewish state and throughout the region over the next week. They said the attacks were being planned in such areas as Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Jordan, Turkey, India's Kashmir region and southern Thailand.

"The information that we have received from a variety of sources comes down to this: Israelis and the Jews are targets around the region," an official said.

In Israel, officials said, authorities have received 50 alerts of a Palestinian attack. The range of threats includes Palestinian suicide bombings, ambushes on Israeli motorists, mortar and missile strikes and abductions of Israeli civilians and soldiers. They said Israeli authorities foiled 15 Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in August.

Another threat was that of a Hamas missile attack on Israeli communities in the western Negev desert. On Friday, Hamas gunners fired three Kassam-class short-range missiles into Israel. One struck the Israeli city of Sderot and nobody was reported seriously injured.

On Friday, Israel's military moved through the Gaza Strip and deployed on the edge of the Jabalya refugee camp outside Gaza City. Jabalya has been deemed a stronghold of Kassam missile production, and Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles toward suspected insurgents and weapons facilities.

Israeli authorities imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the next 10 days amid the threat alert. Officials said the closure would probably be extended throughout the Jewish holiday period, which ends in early October.

The prime minister's Terror Combat Task Force has also warned Israelis to stay away from a range of areas in Asia and Africa over the next few weeks.

They include the Sinai, a popular vacation site.

"Lately, there is a concrete possibility that terror elements will attempt to strike at tourist targets in Egypt, especially in Sinai," the task force said in a statement.

On Friday, officials reported another dispute between Israel and Turkey over airline security. Officials said Turkey rejected Israeli security measures for passengers who sought to board an Israeli airline flight from Antalya to Tel Aviv. In response, Israeli authorities ordered passengers to board a Turkish jet.