President Biden (right) speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) in the Oval Office of the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington. Susan Walsh/AP Hide Caption
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WASHINGTON – The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plan to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appeared to be legitimate.
The document belongs to the U.S. Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency and states that Israel has put military assets in place to carry out military strikes in response to Iran’s intense ballistic missile attack on October 1. It states that it continues to move. The document could be shared within the “five countries”. The “eyes” refer to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The document, marked top secret, was posted online on Telegram and was first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The investigation will ask how the documents were obtained, including whether they were intentionally leaked by members of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained through other means, such as hacking, and whether other intelligence information was compromised. They are also investigating, one of the officials said. . As part of this investigation, authorities are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, officials said.
The document urges Israel to use the removal of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to force a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and also urges Israel to expand its military operations further in northern Lebanon and cover a wider area. This was revealed amid an emergency warning to prevent danger to the area. war. However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly stressed that they have no intention of letting Iran’s missile attacks go unchecked.
The Pentagon said in a statement that it was aware of reports of the document but had no further comment.
