The British Foreign Office on Tuesday issued a travel advisory to citizens traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories, just hours after it decided to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of forged British passports used by the killers of a Hamas commander in Dubai

Citing "circumstantial evidence of Israeli involvement in the fraudulent use of British passports," the Foreign Office warned on its Web site of the "possibility that your passport details could be captured for improper uses while your passport is out of your control."

"The risk applies in particular to passports without biometric security features," the warning on the Web site said. "We recommend that you only hand your passport over to third parties including Israeli officials when absolutely necessary."