From exploding pagers to cyber warfare: Israel’s long history of alleged secret operations
From exploding Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies to a cyber attack on an Iranian nuclear facility, Israel is suspected of carrying out a number of secretive operations over the years.
Israel rarely takes responsibility for such attacks – its military declined to comment on the device blasts in Lebanon – but a long pattern of sophisticated incidents has nonetheless unfolded.
As the fallout from this week’s attacks continues to reverberate around the Middle East, Sky News looks at some of the other notable operations over the last six decades where Israeli involvement has been confirmed or suspected.
Follow latest: Hand-held radios explode in Lebanon
2021: Attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility
In April 2021, Iran blamed Israel for what it said was an attack on one of its underground nuclear facilities.
Israel did not claim responsibility for it, but the country’s media widely reported that the country had orchestrated a devastating cyber attack that caused a blackout at Natanz and damaged its centrifuges (used for separating uranium isotopes).
A former Iranian official at the time said the assault set off a fire while a spokesman mentioned a “possible minor explosion”.
The Natanz nuclear facility in 2021. Pic: AP
2020: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
An Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated in Iran by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a car.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle alongside three security personnel vehicles when he heard what sounded like bullets hitting his car.
After he reportedly left the vehicle, a Nissan fitted with a remote-controlled machine gun then opened fire, killing him.
The scene of the attack on Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020. Pic: IRIB/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
2010: Stuxnet
A powerful computer worm widely thought to have been designed by US and Israeli intelligence, Stuxnet is believed to have disabled a key part of the Iranian nuclear programme.
Discovered in 2010, Stuxnet was designed to destroy the centrifuges Iran used to enrich uranium as part of its weapons programme.
It is reported the worm was delivered to the Natanz facility on a thumb drive by an Iranian double agent working for Israel.
2010: Killing of Mahmoud al Mabhouh
Mahmoud al Mabhouh, a top Hamas operative, was killed in a Dubai hotel room in an operation attributed to the Mossad spy agency but never acknowledged by Israel.
Many of the 26 supposed assassins were caught on camera disguised as tourists.
Mahmoud al Mabhouh. Pic: News Pictures/Mcp/Shutterstock
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2000: Samih Malabi
A Fatah activist from the Kalandia refugee camp outside Ramallah was killed when a booby-trapped mobile phone exploded next to his head.
1997: Attempted assassination of Hamas leader
Mossad agents tried to kill the then head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, in Amman, Jordan.
Two agents entered Jordan using fake Canadian passports and poisoned Mashaal by placing a device near his ear.
Khaled Meshaal. Pic: AP
They were captured shortly afterwards and Jordan’s king threatened to void a still-fresh peace accord if Mashaal died. Israel ultimately dispatched an antidote, and the Israeli agents were returned home.
1996: Yahya Ayyash
Yahya Ayyash, nicknamed the “engineer” for his mastery in building bombs for Hamas, was killed by answering a rigged phone in Gaza.
His assassination triggered a series of deadly bus bombings in Israel.
The coffin of Yahya Ayyash was carried into a mosque for funeral services in 1996. Pic: Reuters
1972: Bassam Abu Sharif
He was injured in Beirut when he opened a package containing a book implanted with a bomb which exploded.
He was the spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Bassam Abu Sharif. Pic: Reuters
He survived but lost several fingers, was left deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.
1972: Mahmoud Hamshari
A representative from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was killed in Paris in 1972 when a bomb was planted under a telephone and remotely detonated.
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1960: Adolf Eichmann
Perhaps the most famous operation by Israel’s Mossad intelligence service ever, in 1960 Israeli spies apprehended Adolf Eichmann.
The German Nazi official was one of the major organisers of the Holocaust.
Adolf Eichmann. Pic: AP
He had been captured by Allied forces in 1945 but escaped and settled in Argentina before ultimately being tracked down by Mossad.
World
Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed – as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire
Israel has confirmed its forces have killed Hamas’s Gaza chief, Mohammad Sinwar, as US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called the group’s counter-offer on a ceasefire “totally unacceptable”.
Mohammad Sinwar became the leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip after his older brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last October.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar on 13 May, and was the target of a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza.
Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he had been “eliminated”.
A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters
Hamas seeks changes in US ceasefire proposal
It comes as Hamas said it was seeking amendments to a US-proposed ceasefire deal, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
On Thursday, the White House said Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal, which would see the release of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died over the course of a week.
Israel and Hamas would then continue talks to bring the remaining hostages home, but Israel would retain the right to resume military action in Gaza if talks were to break down.
In a statement about the proposal on Saturday, Hamas said its response “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip”.
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Israeli ambassador claims ‘no starvation in Gaza’
Hamas offer ‘totally unacceptable’ – Witkoff
Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff, said on social media that Hamas’s response is “totally unacceptable and only takes us backwards”.
“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group has not rejected the proposal but added Mr Witkoff’s response was “unfair” and showed “complete bias” towards Israel.
Israel has not yet responded to Hamas’ counter-offer, but has previously rejected the conditions and demanded the complete disarmament and dismantling of the group.
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Meanwhile, Gaza aid groups have said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people.
The WFP added: “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by.”
Read more:
Last hospital in northern Gaza out of service
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Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.
Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies.
At least seven people have died in a train derailment in Russia which happened after a bridge collapsed.
Local authorities have blamed “illegal interference” for the incident in Bryansk region.
The train was travelling from Moscow to Klimov when it came off its tracks, killing the driver and six others. An infant was among 28 people taken to hospital.
Pic: Moscow Transport Prosecutor’s Office
Emergency workers are at the scene attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage.
Russian media reported that the passenger train crashed into the collapsed bridge.
There were a series of clashes with riot police in the French capital after Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time on Saturday night.
Flares and fireworks were set off in Paris after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest ever victory in a Champions League final.
Around 5,400 police were deployed across Paris after the game, with officers using tear gas and pepper spray on the Champs Elysees.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At the top of the Champs-Élysées, a water cannon was used to protect the Place de l’Étoile, near the landmark Arc de Triomphe.
Police said a large crowd not watching the match tried to push through a barrier to make contact with officers.
Some 131 arrests were made, including 30 who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs-Élysées.
Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police said.
PSG striker Ousmane Dembele appealed for calm in a post-match interview with Canal+, saying: “Let’s celebrate this but not tear everything up in Paris.”
Pics: AP
After the full-time whistle in Germany, thousands of supporters also tried to rush the field at the Allianz Arena.
Police lined up in front of the PSG end of the stadium at the final whistle, but struggled to contain the fans for several minutes when they came down from the stands following the trophy presentation.
Pics: AP
Desire Doue, the 19-year-old who scored two goals and assisted one in the final, said after the game: “I don’t have words. But what I can say is, ‘Thank you Paris,’ we did it.”
Despite being an Olympique de Marseille supporter, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on social media: “A glorious day for PSG!
“Bravo, we are all proud. Paris, the capital of Europe this evening.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Mr Macron’s office said the president would receive the players at the Elysee Palace on Sunday.
The team are also expected to parade down the Champs Elysees.
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