Israel claims it foiled drone attack plot to kill far-right minister Ben Gvir

Jerusalem: Israel’s internal security service said on Wednesday it had foiled a plot by Palestinian group Hamas to kill far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

In a statement, the Shin Bet security service said the planned attack would have involved “explosive drones”.

It said that in a joint operation with the army in recent weeks, members of a Hamas cell operating in the area of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, had been arrested.

Ben Gvir lives in an Israeli settlement nearby.

In a statement on Telegram, he thanked Shin Bet “for the arrest of yet another cell that tried to assassinate me”, vowing that those captured would face strict conditions in prison.

Israel has waged a nearly two-year offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the October 2023 attack.

The Shin Ben statement said the West Bank cell “is suspected of operating under the direction of Hamas in Turkey, with the intention of carrying out a targeted attack” against Ben Gvir.

“The suspects had purchased several drones, which they planned to equip with explosives in order to carry out the attack,” it added.

Ben Gvir is a staunch advocate of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank with a history of inflammatory remarks, and has repeatedly opposed striking any deal with Hamas to end the war in Gaza.

He is considered the most radical minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, itself one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

In early 2023, Ben Gvir’s office said that Israeli police arrested a Palestinian who had planned to assassinate him.