Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was touted as a target in Iran’s assassination plans Israel has arrested one of its own citizens on suspicion of involvement in an Iran-backed assassination plot targeting several high-ranking officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli security services said they had arrested the businessman, who was smuggled into Iran, where he allegedly attended two meetings to discuss killing Mr Netanyahu. Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, and Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, were also discussed as targets.
“The Israeli citizen entered Iran…smuggled through the border hidden inside a truck cabin,” an IDF statement read. “He met with additional Iranian intelligence agents and was asked by them to carry out activities for Iran on Israeli soil, including promoting assassination attacks.”
The unnamed Israeli citizen, who had links to Turkey, allegedly demanded an advance payment of one million dollars before performing any action, the statement added.
Israel claims Iran asked the citizen to carry out the assassinations as revenge for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, on Iranian soil in July, which Tehran attributed to Tel Aviv.
The citizen was arrested in August 2024, before a series of exploding pager device attacks which killed more than 30 people and injured thousands across Lebanon and parts of Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Latest updates 9:09AM
Iranian officials told to avoid phones Iranian authorities have been instructed to stay away from their mobile phones, a former senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
“Following the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh, various groups within IRGC intelligence and the Ministry of Intelligence have been actively investigating the case,” said Mohsen Rafighdoost.
“For instance, Mr Nasrallah was notified about the situation and in Iran, many officials were told to keep their mobile phones away from themselves, with instructions to hand them over for testing before using them again,” he added.
He said Iran will “definitely” avenge the assassination of Hamas leader “in the coming days.”
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Iran ‘devised Netanyahu plot as revenge for Hamas chief’s killing’ The assassination plans were allegedly devised by Iran as revenge for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, in Tehran in July, Shin Bet believes.
But the Israeli suspect said he would not carry out any work for the Iranian regime unless he was first paid $1 million upfront, Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency claimed.
This request was denied by Iranian intelligence agents.
8:38AM
Who was behind the ‘plot’ to kill Netanyahu? According to a Shin Ben and police investigation, the Israeli citizen behind an Iran-backed plot kill Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was a businessman with strong links with Iranian nationals in Turkey.
In April 2024, the suspect agreed to meet with ‘Eddy’, a rich business man who was living in Iran, “to advance business activity”.
He had several meetings before being smuggled into Iran via a land crossing near the eastern Turkish city of Van, Shin Bet said.
Once in Iran, the Israeli man met with a member of Iran’s security forces. In that meeting, Eddy suggested the Israeli man carry out a series of missions in Israel for the Iranian regime.
The Israeli man said he would look into it before returning to Iran in August 2024 hidden in a truck.
He then went to meet Eddy again, where he was asked to assassinate one of Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gallant or Mr Bar.
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Netanyahu accuses Starmer of ‘undermining’ Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Sir Keir Starmer of sending “mixed messages” over Britain’s support for Israel and “undermining” the country’s right to self-defence.
Israel’s prime minister criticised the new Labour government for suspending around 30 arms exports to Israel amid concerns they could be used in violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.
Sir Keir’s decision has caused diplomatic tensions with Israel and Mr Netanyahu, speaking to the Daily Mail, said: “After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support.
“Unfortunately, the current Government is sending mixed messages.
“They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britain’s position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre.”
He also compared Israel’s fight against Hamas to Britain’s “heroic stand against the Nazis”.
Tensions in the Middle East have been heightened in recent days by detonations of electronic devices in Lebanon, including those used by Hezbollah. The militant group has blamed Israel for what appeared to be a remote attack.
8:25AM
Israeli citizen arrested over Iranian-backed plot to kill Netanyahu Israel has arrested one of its own citizens on suspicion of involvement of an Iran-backed assassination plot target several high-ranking officials, including the prime minister
Israeli security services said they had arrested the businessman, who was smuggled into Iran, where he allegedly attended two meetings to discuss assassinating Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, or the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency.
The citizen was arrested in August 2024, before a series of exploding pager device attacks which killed more than 30 people and injured thousands across Lebanon and parts of Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Both Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Yoav Gallant (R) were touted as targets in the Iranian assassination plot REUTERS 7:57AM
Israel hits military targets in southern Lebanon Israeli jets and artillery hit multiple military targets in southern Lebanon overnight, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Thursday.
The military said air strikes hit Hezbollah targets in Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam.
Israeli media reported that a number of Israeli civilians had been wounded by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon but there was no official confirmation.
Israeli airstrikes hit Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel Anadolu 7:23AM
Middle East ‘closest to regional war for 50 years’ The Middle East is the closest it has been to all-out war in 50 years, Saudia Arabia’s ambassador to the UK has told Sky News.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar called for “renewed efforts” to stop fighting in Gaza but said he struggled to remain optimistic about the situation on the ground.
“The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse… I think this is the closest we’ve been to a regional war since 1973,” he said.
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Blinken and Lammy to meet after walkie-talkie blasts David Lammy and Antony Blinken will meet with their European counterparts in Paris on Thursday for further talks about the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
The Foreign Secretary and US secretary of state will meet with their French and Italian counterparts to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine, the state department said, with an inevitable focus on the exploding device attacks.
On Wednesday, Mr Blinken reiterated Washington’s belief that the conflict in the Middle East could be solved diplomatically and said any escalatory acts, like the device attacks, could stop a ceasefire in Gaza.
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The Daily T: How and why did Israel blow up Hezbollah’s pagers? In the latest episode of the Daily T, The Telegraph’s Senior Foreign Correspondent Roland Oliphant tells us whether the plot against Iran-backed Hezbollah could trigger an an all-out regional war. Plus, Jotam Confino reports from Israel on how local media are reacting to the audacious plot.
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Netanyahu compares fight against Hamas to Britain’s ‘heroic stand against the Nazis’ Benjamin Netanyahu has compared Israel’s fight against Hamas to Britain’s “heroic stand against the Nazis”.
The Israeli prime minister has insisted his country is waging a “just war with just means” and claimed it is taking “unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harm’s way and comporting fully with international law”.
Sir Keir Starmer has suspended some arms exports to Israel and also dropped the previous government’s plan to challenge the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) application for an arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu.
Mr Netanyahu told the Daily Mail: “Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas.
“These misguided decisions will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages.
“Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defeating barbarism, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror. Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”
Netanyahu said Britain was “misguided” to reduce military aid to Israel REUTERS 6:05AM
‘They had gathered to defy Israel. Then it happened again’ They had gathered in their thousands to defy Israel and lay to rest four of their comrades, victims of the pagers that had exploded in their hands or their pockets the previous day. Then it happened again.
As the shadows lengthened in the late afternoon on Wednesday, a single thud echoed through the crowd following one cortège through the streets of Hezbollah’s strongholds in south Beirut.
Suddenly screams drowned out the resistance songs blaring out of the sound system and the crowd scattered – except for a man in a white top and black trousers who crumpled backwards onto the ground, his hands blown off, according to witnesses.
It was just the start.
Read more: They gathered to mourn pager attack victims – then a blast tore through the crowd
5:30AM
Taiwan ‘paying great attention’ to pager link Taiwan’s national security team is “paying great attention” to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, the island’s defence minister said, after a Taiwanese firm was linked to the pagers’ production.
Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company which has a licence to use its brand.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said the government was closely watching developments.
“After the news came out, my understanding is that at present the relevant national security bodies are paying great attention to this,” he said, without elaborating. Koo was speaking on Wednesday, in comments embargoed until Thursday.
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US defence secretary talks with Israeli counterpart The US defence secretary and his Israeli counterpart spoke on the phone on Wednesday following the escalation in violence in the Middle East in the past 48 hours.
Lloyd Austin spoke with Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister “to review regional security developments and reiterate US support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian allies”, the Pentagon said.
Earlier on Wednesday Mr Gallant said that the country was shifting its military focus to the north towards the Lebanese border for a “new phase” of the 11-month war that has raged since the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year.
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Allister Heath: Israel’s bravery exposes Starmer’s lie “Sir Keir Starmer has turned against Israel, banning the sales of some weapons – a policy that Germany appears intent on following – and refusing to oppose lawsuits against the Jewish state, in an unforgivable moral inversion.
“Labour has placed Britain on the side of those nihilists masquerading as human rights lawyers who negate the essential distinction between victims and aggressors, between rule-bound, democracies desperate to minimise civilian casualties, and bloodthirsty dictatorships for whom their people are pawns to be sacrificed.”
Read more: Israel’s bravery has exposed the lie at the heart of Starmer’s foreign policy
4:07AM
Japanese firm investigates walkie-talkies Japanese firm Icom has said it is investigating after media reported that two-way radio devices bearing its logo exploded in Lebanon.
Icom said it had stopped producing the model of radios reportedly used in the blasts around 10 years ago.
“The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” the company said in a statement.
“The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company.”
It added that products for overseas markets are sold exclusively through its authorised distributors, and that its export programme is based on Japanese security trade control regulations.
“All of our radios are manufactured at our production subsidiary, Wakayama Icom Inc, in Wakayama Prefecture, under a strict management system… so no parts other than those specified by our company are used in a product. In addition, all of our radios are manufactured at the same factory, and we do not manufacture them overseas.”
Icom’s office in Osaka GETTY IMAGES 4:03AM
Middle East headlines Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the escalating crisis in the Middle East. Here’s what you need to know:
Israel on Wednesday declared a new phase of war after it was accused of being behind a second wave of remote-controlled explosions in LebanonHundreds of walkie-talkie radios and other electronic devices began exploding in Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon (below)It came after a near-identical attack on pagers the previous dayLebanon’s health ministry said 20 people had been confirmed killed and a further 450 woundedHezbollah fired 20 rockets into Israel following the blasts, Israeli officials saidHezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a televised address in response to the attacks on ThursdayThe group has vowed to ‘uniquely punish’ Israel