Former Israeli defense minister and IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon was the target of a Hezbollah assassination plot foiled by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) last year, the Israel Police reported the following day.
The nine suspects who had been arrested in connection with the incident have been indicted, Israeli media reported.
Ya'alon had been informed by security forces and briefed according to the developments.
Shortly after the report, Ya'alon responded, saying, "It's not the first time that someone has tried to assassinate me. I always view myself as the predator, not the prey. That is why I'm still alive."
The group of suspects was reportedly comprised of eight Israeli Arabs as well as one resident of east Jerusalem.
In a following incident that occurred on Tuesday at Park Hayarkon, the same place as the earlier bombing attempt, the Shin Bet stated that it had seized an explosive device attached to a remote detonation system, using a mobile phone and a camera, that Hezbollah had planned to operate in the coming days from Lebanon.
According to the Shin Bet, the infrastructure behind the latest plot is the same one responsible for last year's attempt on Ya'alon's life in Tel Aviv.
The device that was discovered bears similarities to the bomb used in last year’s attempt, which was intended to target a senior Israeli official.
Explosive equipped with remote activation mechanism
The explosive was equipped with a remote activation mechanism based on a camera and cellular system, meant to be triggered from Lebanon by Hezbollah operatives.
The Israeli security establishment believed that Hezbollah was also behind the attack in September 2023.
“It should be emphasized that this infrastructure has been under surveillance for some time,” the Shin Bet said.
This is the third Hezbollah explosive device discovered in Israeli territory in the last two years. In March 2023, an explosive detonated at the Megiddo Junction, severely injuring 21-year-old Shareef ad-Din from Salem.
Details later emerged about how the terrorist managed to infiltrate Israel: he used a ladder to bypass the fence and then traveled dozens of kilometers into Israel without being detected.
Reuters contributed to this report.