ANKARA, September 4. /TASS/. The Center for Combating Disinformation under the Turkish presidential administration has denied reports by some Israeli media outlets about the republic's involvement in planning an assassination of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
"The mention of our country in the news about the plot against the Israeli minister, which appeared in some Israeli media, is the result of a disinformation campaign directed against Turkey. It is known that this event, presented by the Israeli press as new, actually concerns an incident that occurred eight months ago. Moreover, the statements of the detainees that they have nothing to do with Turkey were confirmed by Red Cross representatives," it said in a statement.
The center said that the main purpose of spreading such news is "to deliberately create a false image of Turkey in the international community, thereby undermining its policy towards Palestine."
Earlier, The Times of Israel reported that members of a Hamas cell in the West Bank were arrested over the past few weeks during a joint operation by the General Security Service of the Shabak and the Israel Defense Forces. They were preparing an assassination attempt on Ben-Gvir and allegedly acted "under the command of the headquarters of a terrorist group in Turkey." According to the reports, they purchased several drones to equip them with explosives to attack the minister.