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    • US investigates leak about Israel's Iran attack plans
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    US investigates leak about Israel's Iran attack plans

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    An investigation is underway into the “very disturbing” leak of classified U.S. intelligence documents detailing Israel's plans to retaliate against Iran, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday.

    Johnson told CNN's “State of the Union” that he would be briefed on the investigation later Sunday. “There are some serious allegations being made,” Johnson said. “We’re following it closely.”

    The documents, released last week on the messaging app Telegram, appear to have been created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. They describe US interpretations of Israeli Air Force and Navy planning based on satellite images from October 15-16. The Pentagon said it was investigating the leak.

    Israel has pledged a strong response to Iranian rocket fire on Israel on October 1, the second direct attack on Israel in six months. President Joe Biden responded to questions from reporters last week by saying he had a good understanding of when and how Israel would attack Iran.

    But he also said that he saw an opportunity to end the exchange of blows between the two enemies.

    Developments:

    ∎ Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday he had ordered his ministry to initiate legal proceedings against French President Emmanuel Macron after Paris banned Israeli companies from participating in an upcoming military trade fair.

    ∎ The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted activities” against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon as both sides continued airstrikes. Air Force warplanes on Sunday attacked dozens of militant targets and the launch pad from which dozens of rockets were fired towards the western Galilee.

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    Israel said on Sunday it was preparing attacks on sites in Lebanon linked to the financial operations of Iran-backed Hezbollah and released maps of the likely targets, urging civilians to evacuate the areas.

    The warning came hours after Israel announced it had hit Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut. The Hezbollah-linked financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in central Beirut and its suburbs.

    Avichay Adraee, an Israeli Arab media spokesman, posted the maps on social media with a warning to residents near the targets.

    “They are close to facilities and interests linked to Hezbollah, which the (Israeli military) will act against in the near future,” Adraee warned. “For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must immediately vacate these buildings and adjacent buildings and stay at least 500 meters away from them.”

    The U.N. peace chief for the Middle East on Sunday condemned continued attacks on civilians following Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip's Beit Lahiya late Saturday. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 87 people were killed and at least 40 were injured.

    “The nightmare in Gaza is deepening,” said Tor Wennesland, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process. “In the northern strip, horrific scenes are unfolding amid conflict, relentless Israeli attacks and an ever-deepening humanitarian crisis.”

    The Israeli military dismissed the Hamas-run ministry's figures as “exaggerated,” saying they “do not correspond to the information available to the IDF, the precision munitions used and the exact damage caused.”

    The attack that killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and was widely described as a chance encounter was the result of professional soldiering and “not a fluke,” Israeli Col. Sivan Bloch stressed on Sunday.

    The Bloch Defense Force's 828th Brigade was tasked with continuing cleanup operations in Rafah, including locating and destroying remaining Hamas infrastructure, eliminating militants, and searching for traces of hostages.

    Block told the Times of Israel that an alert soldier spotted suspicious movement several hundred meters away. After initially finding nothing, the incident was almost solved, but the brigade's trackers searched the area and found fresh footprints on the ground, Bloch said.

    Soldiers followed the footprints to a house where they found Sinwar and his guards. A shootout ensued in which the militants were killed and a soldier entered the building.

    “We half-jokingly said, 'Walla, it looks like Yahya Sinwar.' We approached him physically and there was no doubt. “His face is easy to recognize,” Bloch said. “I can tell you we didn’t even believe it at first.”

    (This story has been updated to add new information.)

    Contribution: Reuters

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    Kathleen William
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