The US is investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents that purport to describe Israel's plans to attack Iran, three US officials told The Associated Press. A fourth US official said the documents appear to be legitimate.
The documents are attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack on October 1, which was carried out in retaliation for the assassinations of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary-General, and Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh.
The documents were sharable within the "Five Eyes", which are the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted online to Telegram and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised 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 US intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, the official said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.
The documents emerged as the US has urged Israel to 'seek a path to peace' following the killing of Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war.
However, Israel's leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran's missile attack go unanswered. Israel also continues to carry out strikes across Lebanon, notably the south, the capital Beirut and other locations such as the Bekaa Valley.
Israel's aggression, and subsequent invasion of Lebanon has killed 2,448 since October 7 last year, with most of the casualties killed since late September following a dramatic escalation of attacks.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.