by Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv for ProPublica
Aug. 7, 2025, 5 a.m. EDT

[fascinating article]

Reporting Highlights

• Covert Ops: Commandos that the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, recruited from Iran and neighboring nations destroyed Iranian air defenses in the first hours of a June attack.
• Intelligence Gathering: Israeli operatives identified the bedrooms in which Iranian nuclear scientists were sleeping, enabling precise airstrikes.
• Cyber Deception: Israel sent a fake message that summoned senior Iranian military leaders to a phantom meeting in a bunker that was then bombed by Israeli jets.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.