The Belgian federal police declined to comment and the French source could not confirm the content.
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French and Belgian officials said the information does not change their governments’ overall understanding of the threat.
A terror warning has been raised after a group of IS fighters reportedly left Syria over a week ago to “plan attacks in Belgium and France”.
A spokesman for the Belgian crisis center said that despite the latest alert, the body that sets the security level did not have any indication of an imminent threat. The Islamic State has also threatened violence during the Euro 2016 soccer tournament in France this month.
The group was planning to travel from Syria into Europe via boat from Turkey to Greece, without passports, according to the alert.
The paper said a Brussels shopping mall, an American fast-food chain and police were reported to be among their targets. “There is no imminent threat in Belgium today”, the spokesman added. Level three out of a possible four means the threat is considered serious, possible and probable.
More than 30 people died on March 22, when suicide bombers attacked the Brussels global airport and an underground station in the Belgian capital.
French officers observe a minute of silence after an attacker claiming allegiance to the Islamic State killed a French police couple outside Paris on Monday. On April 19, Crisis Center chief Paul Van Tigchelt said there were signals from Islamic State that fighters were sent to Europe, including Belgium.
The alert comes days after a fatal attack on police officers in France that was believed to be inspired by the Islamic State, and after an attack in Orlando that killed 49 people.
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The stabbing in a Paris suburb revived French concerns about the IS threat.
