From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Senior security official said to deny report Israel’s response to Iran was delayed by Pentagon leak
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A senior Israeli security official quoted by Army Radio denies a British report that Israel was forced to delay a potential retaliatory attack on Iran after details of the planning were leaked from the Pentagon.
“There’s no connection between the leaking of the documents from the Pentagon and the choice of timing for the attack on Iran,” the security source is quoted as saying.
The official says that while several windows have been discussed, no final date has been set for an Israeli response to Iran’s firing of 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state on October 1, sending most of the population to bomb shelters and killing a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
Iran said the missile assault came in response to strikes in Lebanon that killed the top leadership of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group and a July blast in Tehran that killed Hamas politburo head, Ismail Haniyeh.
“We will choose the appropriate date according to operational opportunities,” the source tells Army Radio.
Marked top secret, the documents first appeared online Friday on the Telegram messaging app and quickly spread among Telegram channels popular with Iranians. The FBI is investigating the leak.
The Times report claimed that Israel has developed an alternative plan after the leak but needs to war game them before proceeding.
The Times of Israel Community.