A Twitter message from the Israeli embassy in London claiming that Israel scored ‘a hit in Dubai’ caused much consternation in Jerusalem.

The message, which linked to a news report of Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer’s victory in the quarter finals in the Dubai championships, was posted on the Embassy’s official Twitter feed as ambassador Ron Prosor went to a meeting at the Foreign Office.

The tweet read: “You heard it here first: Israeli tennis player carries out hit on Dubai target."

The assassins captured on CCTV before they killed Hamas military leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were disguised in tennis outfits.

The Dubai police chief said today that he was 99 per cent sure that Mossad were behind the assassination.

The tweet has now been removed.