The passport copy of a man identified by Dubai authorities as Adam Marcus Korman of Australia is one of 26 possibly forged passports used in the assassination of a Hamas official at a Dubai luxury hotel. ((Dubai Police/Handout/Reuters))

Australia's foreign minister has summoned Israel's ambassador to investigate the use of forged Australian passports in a Dubai assassination.

Stephen Smith called Yuval Rotem to his office in Canberra, the capital, on Thursday. He warned him any involvement of Israel in the use of the passports — used in the Jan. 19 killing of a senior Hamas figure — would not be seen as the "act of a friend."

"I made it crystal clear to the ambassador that if the results of that investigation cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of the Australian passports was in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend," Smith told reporters.

Earlier in the day, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his government would "not let the matter rest" until the facts were known, and called the forgery of Australian passports "by any state, let alone for the purposes of assassination … of the deepest concern" to the government.

"We've got to get to the bottom of this and establish the facts," Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday the forgery of Australian passports by any state is 'of deepest concern' to his government. ((Christian Charisius/Reuters))

"It is not a trifling matter," Rudd said. "It is not something you just push to one side. We will not leave a single stone unturned."

Dubai authorities have warned their Australian counterparts of the possible use of forged passports in the Jan.19 slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel room in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Three of the 26 possibly fraudulent passports are Australian. The others are British, Irish, French and German.

Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has said he was nearly "100 per cent" certain that Israel's Mossad secret service masterminded the killing. Hamas also has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.

Israeli officials have a policy of not commenting on allegations about any of its spy agency's activities.

Australian officials do not believe the three Australian passport holders — Joshua Daniel Bruce, Adam Marcus Korman and Nicole Sandra McCabe — had any involvement in the incident, Smith said.