The Islamic State has warned Italy that if they are attacked they will send over 500,000 migrants, Italian media report this morning.

The information has been confirmed by Italian authorities, and was obtained via the interception of telephone calls between jihadists, TGcom reports. The idea is to destabilise the country.

It is possible that many of these migrants end up in Malta, apart from also meaning that the Maltese army’s limited resources will be overstretched in operations to save lives.

The ISIS plan seems more plausible even because the theft of boats from Tunisian and Egyptian ports has seen a rise in the past weeks.

Italian media also report that Hamas is urgung Italy and other European nations not to intervene in Libya as this would signify that Europe would have launched a crusade against Arabs and Muslims.

Egypt's president says a U.N.-backed coalition to rid Libya of Islamic militants is the best option.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, speaking to France's Europe 1 Radio in an interview aired Tuesday, says that Egyptian airstrikes against Islamic State group positions in Libya were in self-defense.

El-Sissi, a general-turned-politician, tells the radio channel: "We will not allow them to cut off the heads of our children."

Asked whether he wanted to see a U.N.-backed coalition for Libya, he said: "I think there is no choice."

Egypt's airstrikes on Monday were in retaliation for the mass beheading on a beach of Egyptian Coptic Christians. A video of the killings was released by the Islamic State late Sunday.