Media: France probes Hezbollah plot to kill Netanyahu’s ICC lawyer

French authorities have launched an investigation into an alleged assassination plot targeting Olivier Pardo, the lawyer representing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The plot is suspected to have been orchestrated by Hezbollah, according to a report by Israel Hayom, which cites informed sources.

The investigation began after Rudy Tarnova, a former convict, visited Pardo’s office in Paris on July 16 to deliver a chilling warning. Tarnova, who had served 14 years in prison for armed robbery and reportedly converted to Islam during his incarceration, claimed that individuals linked to Hezbollah approached him with an offer to assassinate Pardo while he was in Senegal, due to the lawyer's professional ties to Netanyahu.

Tarnova told Pardo he had rejected the offer to carry out the killing, but warned that other individuals had already been recruited for the task. Notably, Tarnova did not seek any payment or reward in exchange for this information.

Following his warning, a criminal investigation was opened under the supervision of a French investigative judge, with the Paris anti-terrorism division of the criminal police providing support. Tarnova himself was detained last week for questioning on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

French officials have expressed concern about the possible spillover of Middle East conflicts onto French soil and are probing whether the case is connected to a broader pattern in which local criminals are used to execute politically motivated assassinations.

By Tamilla Hasanova