Overview
- The Mossad announced on Thursday, July 23, 2026, that it and the Shin Bet, with several foreign services, uncovered and disrupted an Iran-directed plan to send a covert cell into Israel to assassinate senior officials.
- Israeli agencies say the plot used criminal proxy networks to recruit people who could legally enter Israel for surveillance and later attacks, with intermediaries in Iran arranging travel, payments and logistics.
- The Mossad identified a France-based operative, named as Thérot Ozkor and known as “Philip,” who was recruited to assemble the cell and was expelled from France after investigations tied him to the scheme.
- Investigators named two Iranian-based intermediaries, Baba Mahu-Zadeh Haji Jafan (“Babak”) and Mahmat Nadim Yiğit (“Nadim”), and traced their handlers to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, including Asadollah Behzad Oskhari who was previously killed in a 2025 Israeli operation.
- Israeli and allied services say the disruption is part of a broader, ongoing campaign to detect and dismantle dozens of Iran-linked networks and that they will continue coordinated intelligence work and follow-up actions to pursue those involved.