They said the person was a businessman with connections in Turkey who had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.

The arrest took place last month, according to a joint statement by Shin Bet and the Israeli police, highlighting the intelligence war running alongside the escalating conflict on Israel’s border with southern Lebanon.

Last week, Shin Bet uncovered what it said was a plot by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior defence official, who was subsequently identified as the former army chief of staff and defence minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The announcement of the arrest came a day after Hezbollah was hit for a second day running by a sophisticated attack that detonated communications equipment remotely, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 450.

Israel has not commented directly on the attack but multiple security sources have said it was undertaken by Israel’s spy agency Mossad.