Egypt's military says it has bombed targets in Libya, a day after a video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians was released by Islamic State-inspired combatants.
The attack, in which Libya's air force also took part, focused on camps, training sites and weapons storage areas across the border between the two countries.
A Libyan air force commander told Egyptian state television that 40-50 militants were killed.
Saqer al Joroushi said the strikes by war planes loyal to the official government had been coordinated with Egypt and more would follow.
He said Egyptian and Libyan planes had combined to hit targets in the eastern town of Derna. Libyan planes then attacked the central cities of Sirte and Ben Jawad, he added.
A spokesman for Egypt's Armed Forces General Command said the strikes were "to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers".
"Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them," the statement added.
The strikes come after video emerged showing 21 handcuffed hostages dressed in orange jumpsuits being murdered by militants identified as being from the Tripoli Province of Islamic State.
In the latest issue of the IS online magazine Dabiq, the group had said the same number of Egyptian hostages were being held in Libya.
Security officials say the militants in Libya have established ties with Sinai Province, a group that operates from Egypt's Sinai Province and has pledged allegiance to IS.
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron described the killings as "a cruel and barbaric act", adding: "We will not waver in our fight against terrorists and extremism."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the act as "despicable and cowardly".
In the aftermath, Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al Sisi, threatened to carry out a "suitable" punishment.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday that "tough intervention" against the militants in Libya is needed or they would threaten world peace.
French President Francois Hollande and Mr al Sisi have urged the UN Security Council to meet and consider new measures to tackle the militants.
In January, the fighters in Libya claimed they had abducted 21 Egyptian Christians.
Egypt's foreign ministry confirmed at the time that 20 Egyptians had been kidnapped in two separate incidents.
Relatives of those kidnapped gathered in Cairo in recent days to call for the hostages to be released.
Egypt's Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East and are estimated to account for around 15% of the country's population.
Thousands of Egyptians have headed to Libya to work since the Egyptian uprising in 2011, despite government advice to stay away.
The killings raise the possibility that IS has established a direct affiliate less than 500 miles (800km) from the southern tip of Italy.
One of the fighters in the video makes an apparent reference to this, saying the group now plans to "conquer Rome".
IS already controls around a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate.
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