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| Mr Lieberman |
Four Palestinians have
been arrested by Israeli security forces over an alleged plot to kill
Israel's foreign minister with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
Israel's Shin Bet security agency said the group planned to
assassinate Avigdor Lieberman during the Israel-Gaza conflict of July
and August.
It said the men belonged to Hamas, the group which runs Gaza. Hamas said it had "no information about this issue".
The summer war lasted 50 days and ended in a truce between the two sides.
The conflict cost the lives of more than 2,100 Palestinians -
mainly civilians, according to the UN - and 67 soldiers and six
civilians on the Israeli side.
According to Shin Bet, the cell planned to buy an RPG and
fire it at Mr Lieberman's convoy near his home in the settlement of
Nokdim in the occupied West Bank.
The agency said the group had the minister's convoy under
surveillance. They are said to have timed and measured different
sections of the convoy's journey to calculate the most effective point
for the attack.
Shin Bet said three of the suspects - Ibrahim Salim Mahmoud
al-Zir, Ziad Salim Mahmoud al-Zir and Adnan Amin Mahmoud Sabih - came
from the West Bank village of Harmala, about 2.5km (1.5 miles) from
Nokdim.
Ibrahim Salim Mahmoud al-Zir allegedly masterminded the plot
and recruited his brother Ziad, Adnan Amin Mahmoud Sabih and another
Hamas member Youssef Ibrahim Youssef al-Sheikh, from the Bethlehem area.
'Message to Israel'
The group were arrested two weeks ago, Shin Bet said.
According to the agency, the men had said they hoped that
killing Mr Lieberman "would relay a message to the State of Israel that
would bring about an end to the Gaza war".
The release of the information about the alleged plot comes at a time of heightened tension between Israel and Palestinians.
Palestinian militants killed five Israelis in an attack on a
synagogue in Jerusalem on Tuesday - the latest in a spate of deadly
attacks in the city by members of militant groups, including Hamas.
Tensions have also soared over a disputed major holy site,
known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and
incidents including the killing by Israeli forces of an Israeli-Arab
and a Palestinian in Hebron.
Source:
BBC
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