Lebanese investigative journalist Prominent, who faced an Israeli spy company linked According to a public statement published by Lebanese investigative journalist Radouan Mortada on social media, Apple issued an urgent security alert that his personal device was targeted in a "sober mercenary espionage attack", using technology linked to the Israeli surveillance company NSO. The announcement from Apple specifically confirmed that such a high-level cyber intrusion targets people "because of who you are or what you do," noting the third time Mortada has targeted Pegasus' Israeli heritage after previous intrusions in 2017 and 2021. The cyberattack follows the state's retaliation against Mortada's investigative report, coming just weeks after the Israeli military ransacked, planted explosives inside, and blew up his family's multi-generational home in Aita al-Jabal in southern Lebanon. The demolition of Mortada's home came shortly after he directed and prepared The Trap, a two-part investigative documentary aired on Al Jazeera 360 that exposed the Mossad's cover operations behind the September 2024 bombings across Lebanon. Mortada stated that "the targeting of journalists with sophisticated spyware constitutes a serious threat to the freedom of the press, the confidentiality of journalistic sources, and the very foundations of independent investigative journalism." Despite uncertainty over whether the latest cyber operation was directly triggered by his documentary work, press freedom groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have strongly condemned the ongoing campaign of physical and digital intimidation aimed at silencing investigative reporters documenting Israeli war crimes in Lebanon.

Lebanese investigative journalist Prominent, who faced an Israeli spy company linked According to a public statement published by Lebanese investigative journalist Radouan Mortada on social media, Apple issued an urgent security alert that his personal device was targeted in a "sober mercenary espionage attack", using technology linked to the Israeli surveillance company NSO. The announcement from Apple specifically confirmed that such a high-level cyber intrusion targets people "because of who you are or what you do," noting the third time Mortada has targeted Pegasus' Israeli heritage after previous intrusions in 2017 and 2021. The cyberattack follows the state's retaliation against Mortada's investigative report, coming just weeks after the Israeli military ransacked, planted explosives inside, and blew up his family's multi-generational home in Aita al-Jabal in southern Lebanon. The demolition of Mortada's home came shortly after he directed and prepared The Trap, a two-part investigative documentary aired on Al Jazeera 360 that exposed the Mossad's cover operations behind the September 2024 bombings across Lebanon. Mortada stated that "the targeting of journalists with sophisticated spyware constitutes a serious threat to the freedom of the press, the confidentiality of journalistic sources, and the very foundations of independent investigative journalism." Despite uncertainty over whether the latest cyber operation was directly triggered by his documentary work, press freedom groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have strongly condemned the ongoing campaign of physical and digital intimidation aimed at silencing investigative reporters documenting Israeli war crimes in Lebanon.