5th suspect, an IDF officer, is arrested in probe into intel leak from Netanyahu’s office

An IDF officer has been arrested as part of the investigation into leaked classified documents from the Prime Minister’s Office, according to Hebrew media reports, bringing the total number of suspects in the case to five.

The leaked documents were said to have been written by the Hamas terror group and to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle — which was later withdrawn — suggesting Hamas had planned to spirit hostages out of Gaza through Egypt; as well as an article in Germany’s Bild newspaper that said Hamas was drawing out hostage talks as a form of psychological warfare on Israel.

The leaked material was not found by IDF forces in Gaza, according to the Kan public broadcaster, but was uncovered through “another type of intelligence.” The case is being taken so seriously by prosecutors in part because it risks revealing to Hamas key intelligence-collection methods.