Research institutes in Israel currently trying to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus were targeted by online attacks last week.

Israeli media reported Monday that hundreds of websites in Israel were also shut down due to the cyberattacks, CBN News reports.

There was reportedly no attempt to steal information in the attacks. Instead, they were intended to interrupt the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.

While a number of institutes were attacked, the attempt failed and the institutes reported no damage as a result of the incident.

Many websites did suffer a shut down because of the attack, including some connected to political groups. Homepages on these websites were related with threatening images of cities in Israel being bombed. A message also threatened the destruction of the country.

The Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) called the attack a "superficial defacing of websites of private bodies in Israel," adding it was done through a single access point.

Days before the attack, which occurred just before Al Quds Day, the Washington Post reported Israel was behind a cyberattack on an Iranian port that had occurred earlier this month. The attack was in response to another attack by Iran against Israel water sewage facilities in April.

Al Quds Day is an event that calls for the destruction of Israel and Zionism, celebrated by Iranians.