JERUSALEM -- An Egyptian official says the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah will be punished for planning terror attacks on Egyptian soil.

The high-ranking official, who was quoted in Wednesday's edition of the Egyptian state-run newspaper Al-Ahram, said Hezbollah will pay a "heavy price" for targeting three towns on Egypt's Sinai beaches for simultaneous attacks on Israeli tourists.

An Egyptian investigation revealed that the Hezbollah-run terror cell, which included Lebanese and Palestinians, was planning to strike Taba, Nuweiba and Dahab, all frequented by Israeli tourists.

Thousands of Israelis, now on Passover holiday, defied warnings from their government and traveled to Sinai.

Although he didn't specify how Hezbollah would be punished for its actions, the Egyptian official said "this can be done by a series of measures."

Egyptian security sources discovered that Hezbollah''s motives for the terrorist activity were to destabilize the government in Egypt and to kill Israelis, not to help Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, as Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah had claimed.

Sources: Ha'aretz, YNet News