KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, one of Umno’s three vice-presidents, reacted today to the rumours linking PKR to a botched kidnapping attempt allegedly directed by Mossad, questioning if the Israeli intelligence agency had "infiltrated” rival coalition Pakatan Harapan.

Khaled had tweeted his thoughts about what had transpired on his Twitter account at noon even as the authorities have yet to ascertain Mossad’s involvement.

Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim, Kuala Lumpur’s top cop, told reporters this evening that the police are still investigating, and questioned the veracity of the allegation by the newspaper that first reported the incident.

"We must know the truth. Is this something that is prevalent in our country, has the Mossad infiltrated Pakatan?” Khaled tweeted.

The posting was meant to accompany another tweet that carried photos of the person alleged to be running an "Israeli spy ring” in the country shared by pro-Umno and Barisan Nasional supporters.

The photos, of a woman said to be a supporter or member of PKR and her husband, were spread just hours after news about the botched operation surfaced. Fahmi Fadzil, PKR’s information chief, has strongly denied that the people in the photos are members of the party.

Last Friday, 11 individuals, including a woman, were charged at the Magistrates’ Court here for kidnapping a Palestinian national, Omar Z. M. Albelbaisy, in what appeared to be a botched and clumsy operation that eventually led to their arrests.

The newspaper that first reported about the abduction claimed the 11 are operatives recruited and trained by Mossad. The Palestinian and his fried were reportedly targeted because of their link to Hamas, the party now ruling the occupied Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government has labelled Hamas as a terrorist group, an accusation challenged by dozens of other countries. The mission was supposedly meant to obtain information about software used to hack mobile phones, the newspaper reported.

Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation, has no diplomatic ties with Israel. News about the incident, which reportedly happened on September 28 close, surfaced just two days before the Election Commission was scheduled to announce the campaigning and polling dates for the 15th general election.