Israeli authorities have arrested four Palestinians accused of planning to assassinate Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman by launching a rocket attack on his convoy, the BBC reported.
Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, said the men are Hamas members who came up with the assassination plot during Israel's 50-day war with the Palestinian militant group over the summer.
The group planned to purchase a rocket-propelled grenade and hurl it towards Lieberman's convoy as it traveled to his home in the Jewish settlement of Nokdim in the occupied West Bank, according to the BBC. They even studied the convoy's movements to determine the best location to attack.
By killing the foreign minister, the men hoped to "relay a message to the State of Israel that would bring about an end to the Gaza war," Shin Bet said.
The security agency said the arrests were made two weeks ago. However Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said it has "no information about this issue," according to the BBC.
The July-August conflict in Gaza was sparked after Hamas allegedly kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenagers, who were found dead in the West Bank in June. It ended with a ceasefire, but not before 2,100 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians, according to U.N. officials. Israel saw a total of 73 deaths, most being soldiers.
Relations between Israelis and Palestinians have continued on a downward spiral despite the truce, with five Israelis killed after Palestinian gunmen attacked a synagogue in east Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The suspects in the foiled assassination plot have been identified as Ziad Salim Mahmoud al-Zir, Adnan Amin Mahmuod Sabih, Youssef Ibrahim Youssef al-Sheikh and alleged mastermind Ibrahim Salim Mahmoud al-Zir, who are all from the West Bank.
All four have already been indicted in an Israeli military court, Shin Bet said, according to The Guardian. It is not clear if they pleaded guilty or not to the charges.
