The apparent security breach occurred amid an intense standoff between Iran and Israel โ which has vowed to respond to a barrage of missiles fired by Tehran earlier this month.
On Friday, two documents were posted to the anonymous Telegram channel Middle East Spectator, which covers events in the region and is critical of Israel.
The first of the files, apparently prepared by the Pentagonโs National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) โcontinued key munitions preparations and covert UAV activity on October 16 almost certainly for a strike on Iran”.
The second document contains a detailed report about a โlarge-force employment exerciseโ conducted by the Israeli Air Force on October 15-16.
An unnamed US official confirmed the authenticity of the documents to CNN, describing the leak as โdeeply concerningโ. The official told the network that the ongoing probe is aimed at determining who had access to the top secret files that eventually made their way to social media.
The Telegram channel which published the documents released a statement on Saturday, claiming that it had received the files from โan anonymous source on Telegram who refused to identify himselfโ. The channel further claimed that it had โno connection to the original leaker”.
On October 1, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the war in Gaza and the assassinations of top members of pro-Palestinian groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israel did not specify how and when it would retaliate, with some reports saying that the IDF was planning to strike military targets in Iran, rather than nuclear or oil facilities. Israel would make โfinal decisions based on our national interestโ, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuโs office announced on Thursday.