Mossad agent who drowned in Italy was part of mission targeting 'Iranian weapons'

An Israeli Mossad agent who drowned in Lake Maggiore in northern Italy alongside two Italian intelligence agents was in the region on a mission targeting "Iranian weapons capabilities", according to Israeli media reports.

Four people were killed when a boat carrying twenty-one passengers capsized on 28  May.

Early reports stated that the boat had been "hired by tourists" for a birthday celebration. However, Israeli media reports are now saying that the boat was "full of Israeli and Italian intelligence agents" and the event was a celebration of an apparently successful mission targeting "Iranian non-conventional weapons capabilities".

This has been backed up by a report from Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which claimed there were ten more Mossad agents on board during the incident.

The Mossad agent who died was identified as Erez Shimoni, which had been the cover name he used while in service.

Shimoni was allegedly retired from Mossad, but his presence aboard a vessel hired by active operatives might suggest otherwise.

The cover name and presence of a Mossad agent were only confirmed by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said that the Mossad had “lost a dear friend” who “dedicated his life to the security of the State of Israel, even after his retirement”.

The intrigue surrounding the incident was only heightened after it emerged that public aviation records showed an “Israeli executive plane”, usually only reserved for official missions by Israeli authorities, departed from Israel to Milan on the Monday following the incident on Lake Maggiore.

It then departed to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on the afternoon of the same day. 

The two Italian intelligence agents were identified as Claudio Alonzi and Tiziana Barnobi. The fourth victim was Anya Bozhkova, originally from Russia, who was the wife of the ship’s captain Claudio Carminati.

The operation apparently centred on the monitoring of contacts between Iranian firms and Italian ones in Lombardy’s industrial zone.

Carminati was now allegedly under investigation by police over the capsizing, but the backgrounds of the agents and why they were in the area will not be part of the investigation.

Though there is much intrigue into exactly what made the boat capsize, it appears to have occurred due to a “sudden and violent” storm on the lake.  

Following the capsizing of the boat, reports claimed that after being unable to save those who died, “the Israeli and Italian teams swam back to shore”.

The incident came merely two months after Netanyahu and his far-right Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni met in Rome, with the two governments seeking stronger ties with each other.