The Makkan Period, Part 10: Persecution, and the Offer of ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah
Section 4 of 8 · The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: The Makkan Period
From Character Assassination to Attempted Murder
Number eleven*: when the attempts of Quraysh of character assassinations failed — they attempted to assassinate the character; they tried to destroy the message by distorting the image of the Messenger — when that didn't work, they tried to eliminate the Messenger, and these attempts occurred after Abū Ṭālib passed away. They knew that they had no way of assassinating Muhammad (peace be upon him) during the life of Abū Ṭālib, but when he passed away, they attempted to assassinate him. Allah (swt) says:
وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ ۚ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَـٰكِرِينَ
“And (recall) when the disbelievers were conspiring against you to hold you as a captive, or to kill you, or to expel you. They were planning, and Allah was planning, and Allah is the best planner.” (8:30)
...and if they mock him, then they will either prove him wrong, or kill him, or drive him out; and they mock, and Allah mocks, and Allah is the best of the mockers. Allah (swt) says, they attempted to drive him out of his land, to imprison him, and to kill him. So the attempts were made, but Allah (swt) would protect him, and one of these attempts will be told when the account reaches the Hijrah.
So these were the various methods that the people of Quraysh used at one time or another during the era of Makkah.