Israeli authorities arrested a 22-year-old Haifa resident for his involvement in an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate a high-ranking Israeli official, with the intended target believed to be former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, reports say.

Ami Gaydarov, 22, was arrested last month on suspicion that he was working with an Iranian agent to gather intelligence and build a bomb for use in a terror plot against a high-ranking Israeli official. Gaydarov was unaware of the target’s identity. A gag order on his arrest was recently lifted, allowing Israeli media outlets to report on the case.

Authorities said Gaydarov first made contact with his Iranian handler in August 2025 and was paid roughly $23,000 — most of it in cryptocurrency — to carry out tasks in preparation for the assassination plot.

Gaydarov allegedly rented an apartment in the city’s downtown area to serve as a laboratory for the bombs.

TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL, COMMANDER KILLED IN STRIKE, ISRAEL DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS

“To facilitate the contacts with his handlers, Gaidarov purchased dedicated phones and rented an apartment in Haifa where he produced the explosive substance, while documenting his activities in videos and photos that were sent to his handler as proof of compliance,” the Israeli police force said.

In connection with the plot, Israeli authorities have also arrested three other suspects, including Sergey Leibman and Edward Shovtiuk. The fourth suspect has not been named. Authorities said indictments for the four suspects should occur in the “coming days.”

The terror plot was uncovered as part of Israel’s “Operation Roaring Lion,” a major military campaign launched against Iran on February 28, coinciding with the start of the war with Iran.

The arrest of the four men comes as Israeli authorities have won more than 40 indictments against more than 60 defendants working on behalf of the Iranian government. Just two months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that the citizenship of Israelis convicted of espionage for Iran be stripped of their citizenship.

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Since the outbreak of the war with Iran, pro-Iranian attacks linked to radical groups have been on the rise. Just last week, French officials reported that a pro-Iran group was behind a failed bomb plot on a Bank of America office in Paris.

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Just hours before his assassination, Mohammed Wishah, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher, was sitting with his fellow journalists in a tent near al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza City.

The gathering on Wednesday was typical, bringing together colleagues who had become friends after working closely together for more than two years covering Israel’s genocidal war that had destroyed so much around them.

None of them knew it would be their last meeting.

As Wishah was driving his car south, heading back to his home in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, and along the al-Rashid coastal road, an Israeli drone fired a missile that directly struck his car.

Wishah was declared dead immediately; the vehicle had caught fire and turned into a mass of flames on the roadside.

Wishah’s killing came as a major shock to his fellow journalists in Gaza, who rushed to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah to bid him farewell and take part in his funeral.

During the funeral, which set off on Thursday morning from the hospital, dozens of journalists gathered to mourn Wishah alongside his family and relatives. A deep sorrow hung over the mourners, as well as an intense anger over the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza.

Wishah was born in 1986 in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. He studied, graduated, and worked as a journalist, then joined Al Jazeera Mubasher – Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language live television network – in 2018, where he remained until he was assassinated.

Talal al-Arouqi, a fellow correspondent with Al Jazeera Mubasher, said that he was extremely sad to lose Wishah as a colleague, as well as a friend.

“Mohammed was like a spiritual father to us here during the war in the Gaza Strip,” al-Arouqi told Al Jazeera. “We used to turn to him for every detail of the work and coverage.”

“We consulted him on everything, big and small, because he was sincere and kind. He was a colleague, a brother, a friend, and someone loved by everyone,” he added. “Everyone here loved Mohammed. Everyone here cried in grief and heartbreak over him. Everyone was devastated and shocked by the news of his killing.”

Al-Arouqi said that he believed Israel had deliberately targeted Wishah following an incitement campaign against him, similar to the ones that had taken place against fellow Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh before their killings, accusing them without basis of being members of Hamas.

Because of the incitement campaign by the Israeli army against Wishah, he was forced – during his war coverage – to stay away from his home and family, in addition to facing intense work pressure.

He would sleep in tents with other journalists and work long hours throughout the day. And he would have known the risks of working as a journalist in Gaza: authorities in the Palestinian enclave say that 262 media workers have been killed by Israel since the start of the war in October 2023.

Abdullah Miqdad, a correspondent for Al Araby TV in Gaza, was one of those who knew Wishah. He said Israel needs to be held accountable.

“These operations targeting journalists in Gaza would not have continued were it not for the absence of legal accountability and prosecution of Israel,” Miqdad said. “Today, we lost Mohammed Wishah. And he will not be the last.”

Miqdad called for international institutions to offer real protection for Palestinian journalists, in line with international humanitarian law, which guarantees the protection of journalists in conflict zones.

“Mohammed and other journalists are supposed to be protected under this law,” he said, “and there should be real action to protect them and prevent their targeting or harm under any circumstances.”

Al Jazeera journalists targeted

For Al Jazeera’s team in Gaza, Wishah’s death was the latest in a long line of tragedies.

Wishah is the 12th Al Jazeera journalist or media worker in Gaza to have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war. The others are Samer Abu Daqqa, Hamza al-Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, Rami al-Rifi, Anas al-Sharif, Ibrahim al-Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Muhammad Qreiqeh, Muhammad Salama, and Hussam Shabat.

Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza organised a press vigil in front of the Al Jazeera tent near al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, condemning the killing of Wishah and other colleagues at the network.

Moamen al-Sharafi, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, eulogised Wishah’s long career, which included coverage of Israeli wars on Gaza, as well as repeated Israeli assaults, even as he endured the hardships of war, displacement, siege, and starvation.

“Mohammed’s banner has not fallen, nor that of his colleagues who came before him. It is the banner of truth that must continue,” al-Sharafi said.

“We affirm that assassinations and the liquidation of Palestinian journalists will not deter us from continuing this coverage, despite the risks and the extensive incitement campaigns led by the Israeli side and its forces against Palestinian journalists, especially those of Al Jazeera,” he added.

Hind Khoudary, a correspondent for Al Jazeera English, expressed her deep sorrow over Wishah’s loss, describing him as a “companion in the journey of displacement”.

“We worked together at al-Shifa Hospital at the beginning of the war, then after displacement, we moved to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which became our place of displacement and our second home,” Khoudary said.

“There were many daily details I shared with Mohammed… Mohammed Wishah was like a spiritual father to female journalists, especially those without their families,” she said. “He always looked after us and tried to provide everything, even when there was no food.”

“The loss of Mohammed is a huge loss… he was a humane and professional journalist,” Khoudary added. “We still cannot believe he was targeted while there is said to be a ceasefire, even as the killing and targeting continue.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy posted a map showing alternative shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz to help transiting ships avoid naval mines, the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA said early on Thursday.

The status of the Strait of Hormuz is unclear after Iranian media outlets released conflicting reports regarding whether or not oil tankers were being allowed to transit the waterway on Wednesday.

According to Iranian state-owned Press TV, the strait has been fully closed, and all tankers attempting to pass through have been turned around.

Shortly before Press TV declared the closure, Iranian state-owned Student News Network (SSN) reported that safe passage routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been designated and must be used by ships in coordination with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The organization said that the safe entry path is from the Sea of Oman towards the north of Larak Island, while the safe exit path from the Gulf passes south of Larak Island and towards the Sea of Oman.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday it would be unacceptable for ships to have to pay a fee to cross the Strait of Hormuz as Iran has suggested, and such a move would set a dangerous precedent for freedom of navigation.

The Iran war has threatened Gulf ports and disrupted global trade through the strait, a waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.

Greece controls one of the largest merchant fleets globally in terms of cargo-carrying capacity.

Earlier on Wednesday, IRGC-tied outlet Fars News reported that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil tankers from transiting the waterway, in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.

Oil tankers attempting to transit the strait received threatening messages from the Iranian Navy, according to several shipping sources.

“Any vessel trying to travel into the sea… will be targeted and destroyed…” the message, which was received by several vessels, said.