Israeli police arrested a civilian on Thursday who was allegedly recruited by Iran intelligence to plot the assassinations of high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to AFP, which cited a joint statement from the police and Shin Bet, one of the primary branches of the Israeli intelligence community. The involvement of Iran's intelligence in such a plot underscores ongoing tensions in the region.

"An Israeli citizen was recruited by Iranian intelligence to promote assassinations of Israeli figures. He was smuggled twice into Iran and received payment for carrying out missions," according to the statement.
As per the statement, the targeted individuals included Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu, and other high-ranking officials.

Iran intelligence
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These claims come after a series of unprecedented attacks last week, in which hundreds of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon, killing 32 people and injuring over 3,000.
According to authorities, the Israeli citizen, described as "a businessman who lived in Turkey for an extended period," had contacts in Turkey and Iran, who introduced him to an Iranian businessman named Eddie over the phone.

Suspect's Connections

Local media identified the individual as a Jewish Ashkelon resident who originally came to Iran in May 2024 to meet Eddie but was unable to leave the country. During this tour, he met Hajjah, an Iranian security operative.

According to the authorities, he was assigned to a variety of security operations in Israel during this trip, including sending "money or a gun," photographing busy public spaces, and threatening other Israelis recruited by Tehran. In August, the inquiry revealed that the arrested individual had been smuggled into Iran in a truck. While in Iran, he met with additional Iranian intelligence agents, who directed him to carry out terrorist acts on Israeli soil, including assisting assassination attempts.

Israeli Strikes in Southern Lebanon

Israel struck southern Lebanon on Thursday, claiming to have "thwarted" an Iran-backed murder attempt, according to Reuters. This came after explosions using Hezbollah radios and booby-trapped pagers, which heightened tensions between the two rivals and brought them closer to war. The clever strikes on communications equipment used by the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah have created havoc in Lebanon and raised fears of a return to all-out fighting, which occurred 18 years ago.

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, is scheduled to address the nation later on Thursday, and many are looking forward to learning more about the group's response. The probability of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah seems more likely now that Israel's defence minister has declared a "new phase" in the conflict and that recent explosions in Lebanon are connected to an Israeli strike on electronic devices.

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