Iran had flowers sent to the relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza to woo Israelis and try to turn them into spies.

Israeli security officials said Iran set up a number of Hebrew social media pages and websites about the ongoing war with Hamas and the hostage crisis, which helped arrange for flowers to be sent to the victims’ homes.

The accounts also “tasked Israelis with photographing the residences of Israeli defence officials and other officials who appear frequently in the media and speak out against Iran publicly,” according to the Times of Israel, citing the Shin Bet’s statement.

It appears to have been an attempt to lure Israelis, presumably without their knowledge, into providing information about Gaza hostages’ families and top officials to the Iranian security services.

Iran also allegedly set up social media accounts on TikTok, Instagram and Telegram posing as Israeli far-Right activists and impersonating the Israeli broadcaster Kan.

It was not immediately clear on Monday whether any Israelis had carried out the tasks requested by those social media pages.

Iran, a financial backer of Hamas, is Israel’s arch-foe in the region and for years the two countries have been locked in a so-called shadow war in which they attack each other’s infrastructure.

It is not the first time Israel has claimed to have foiled attempts by Iran to recruit Israelis for spying missions.

In December, the Shin Bet warned that Iranian security services were contacting Israelis over social media to try and build a rapport with them.

The Iranian spies allegedly posed as potential business partners, such as estate agents, couriers or even online dating service providers.

They would then ask the Israelis to carry out various assignments which according to a Shin Bet statement were “seen as apparently not relating to security aspects, but are definitely intended to serve the Iranians and enrich the intelligence in their possession.”

This included asking Israelis to photograph people of interest to the Iranians and to verify their addresses. They also tried to set up an assassination of an Israeli target, the Times of Israel reported.

“The activity efforts of Iranian security forces have greatly intensified, while using digital space for the purposes of intimidation, conveying messages or advancing terror activity,” a Shin Bet spokesman said.

Israel was shocked in 2021 by a case in which a cleaner at the home of Benny Gantz, an Israeli general who is currently in the war cabinet, took photographs of his office for the Iranians.

The cleaner also photographed Mr Gantz’s computer, phone, tablet and office shredder as well as pictures of Mr Gantz and his family.

In September 2022, the cleaner was sentenced to three years in prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors. The cleaner admitted to most of the charges, Israeli media reported at the time but insisted he did not know that he was working for Iran.