Hamas leader Meshaal warns of Israeli
Khaled Meshaal told the BBC the victory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its right-wing allies meant there would be "more extremism".
He said Hamas was not looking for any escalation, but would defend itself.
Militants in Gaza led by Hamas fought a 50-day war with Israel last summer that left more than 2,200 people dead.
On Thursday, Amnesty International said rockets and mortar attacks on civilian areas in Israel during the conflict amounted to war crimes.