US investigates unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s plans to attack Iran

The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials said Sunday evening, while a fourth official said the documents appeared legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets to carry out a military strike in response to Israel’s ballistic missile attack. Iran on October 1.

They were shared within the “Five Eyes”, namely the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, classified top secret, were posted on the messaging app Telegram and first reported Saturday by CNN and Axios.

President Joe Biden, right, speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in July.

The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials said Sunday evening. Pictured, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, visits Israel’s northern border with Lebanon

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained, including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or whether they were obtained through another method, such as hacking.

It will also be examined whether other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said.

As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were released, the official said.

The United States urged Israel to take advantage of the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and push for a ceasefire in Gaza, and also urgently warned Israel against expansion additional military operations in northern Lebanon and the risk of a wider regional war.

Smoke rises Sunday from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The documents note that Israel continues to shift its military assets to carry out a military strike in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on October 1. Archive photo from December 2023.

However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly emphasized that they will not let the Iranian missile attack go unanswered.

In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports about the documents but had no further comment.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the leak of the two documents.

The documents first appeared online Friday via a Telegram channel, claiming they were leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community and then later by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The information appears to be collected entirely through analysis of satellite images.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, far left, and Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi, second from left, seen in the Israeli Air Force’s underground command room during the strike air raid targeting Hezbollah headquarters.

Israeli leaders have repeatedly stressed that they will not allow the Iranian missile attack to go unanswered. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, seen on the left

One of the two documents resembled the style of other National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency documents leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about the war of Russia against Ukraine and other national security secrets.

The Telegram channel involved in the leak claims to be based in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

He has previously posted memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as materials supporting Tehran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle Eastern militant groups armed by the Republic Islamic.