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Incoming CEO of Israeli Spyware Firm Steps Down

An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel July 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters
An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel July 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters
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Incoming CEO of Israeli Spyware Firm Steps Down

An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel July 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters
An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel July 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. Reuters

The designated chief executive of Israeli tech firm NSO Group is resigning days after being announced, a source close to the company said Thursday, as Palestinian officials claimed its software hacked their phones.

Isaac Benbenisti was tapped last week to succeed founder and CEO Shalev Hulio, who was to have become global president and vice chairman of the board.

NSO's Pegasus software can switch on a phone's camera or microphone and harvest its data.

It was at the center of a storm in July after a list of about 50,000 potential surveillance targets worldwide was leaked to the media.

The management shake-up at NSO comes after the United States on November 3 blacklisted the company for enabling "foreign governments to conduct transnational repression".

NSO as well as the Israeli company Candiru and firms based in Singapore and Russia were targeted for restrictions on US exports.

The source close to NSO who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said "because of the crisis with the US... Shalev decided that he still will sit on the chair of the CEO."

NSO says its Pegasus software helps fight crime, but investigators have found it on the phones of journalists and dissidents.

On Thursday Ahmed al-Deek, a senior official in the Palestinian foreign ministry, said Pegasus was found on phones of three of his colleagues.

"We have confirmed by experts and specialized companies that Pegasus has been found on phones of three officials at the foreign affairs ministry," he told AFP.

The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates said it "condemns in the strongest terms" the hacking of Palestinians' phones, calling it a "crime that must be held accountable".

The allegation follows a report on Monday by a European rights group saying Pegasus was used to hack phones of the staff of Palestinian civil society groups that Israel has deemed terrorist organizations.

The groups deny the charge.

Eitay Mack, a human rights lawyer specializing in Israeli defense exports, said Benbenisti's decision to resign "proves that the US Department of Commerce's decision is making waves and seeping through.

"The big question (is) what will the company's international investors do now?" he said.

Israel has pushed back against the US blacklisting of NSO.

Pegasus can only be sold to states, and the sales must be approved by the defense ministry.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stressed that NSO was a "private company" that followed Israel's defense export guidelines.

"I don't think there's another country in the world which has such strict rules according to cyber warfare and that is imposing those rules more than Israel."

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World

WFP: Expanding Conflict Drives Record Hunger in Northern Nigeria

A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
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WFP: Expanding Conflict Drives Record Hunger in Northern Nigeria

A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)

Hunger across Nigeria's conflict-hit north is at levels not seen in a decade as violence spreads and aid shrinks, the UN's World Food Program warned Thursday, with more than three million people "acutely food insecure".

The country has been battling an extremist insurgency centered in the northeast since 2009, with a resurgence in violence since 2025.

Extremists have also been expanding into the northwest, which is already facing a separate, overlapping crisis from armed "bandit" gangs.

"What concerns us most is how this crisis is expanding," WFP regional director for west and central Africa, Kinday Samba, said in a statement, noting the spread of violence "across a much wider area and forcing people from farmland, driving displacement and restricting humanitarian access".

Aid cuts under US President Donald Trump and other western countries have hit some of Nigeria's poorest households in recent years.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund reported last month that poverty has risen under President Bola Tinubu, who has embarked on a raft of economic reforms supported by economists but which have also driven punishing inflation.

As conflict in the country's troubled north has expanded, so has the number of areas too dangerous for WFP to operate in, it said.

"The number of inaccessible locations has doubled: a further 15 areas are now considered partially inaccessible for WFP's frontline staff," it said,

Government control is scanty outside urban centers, leaving swathes of rural areas prone to attacks from armed groups.

More than 17 million people across northern Nigeria "are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of hunger", WFP said.

"Nigeria's food security crisis is worsening faster than previously anticipated," it said. "Conflict is driving hunger in some northern states, particularly the northeast, to levels not seen in almost a decade".

In Borno state, the epicenter of the militants conflict, more than three million people are "acutely food insecure", including 10,000 people facing "catastrophic hunger".

But WFP's footprint is shrinking amid a donor shortfall, it said.

At the height of 2025 "lean season", when the previous year's foodstocks are running low but the current year's crops aren't ready for harvest, the agency delivered food and nutrition aid to 1.3 million people.

Amid "extreme funding shortfalls", it has projected it will reach slightly over half that number this year.

World

Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
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Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response,” again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.

The strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations to reach a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both US and Iranian diplomats met with mediators on Wednesday in Qatar, The Associated Press said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the US military's Central Command had put out a statement about having a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain that said “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels,” the Iranian statement said.

It also said the continued presence of US fighter jets over the strait “causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security.”

“Any attempt by the United States to interfere in security matters or any disruptive action in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty and will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction,” the Iranian warning added.

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions.

World

Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
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Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

Iran said on Thursday that any US interference in the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a "decisive and ‌rapid" ‌response, adding ‌that ⁠the continued presence of US ⁠air assets across the waterway endangered regional security, state media ⁠reported.

Khatam al-Anbiya ‌Central ‌Headquarters, which coordinates Iran's ‌armed forces ‌operations, said all tanker and commercial vessels must follow ‌routes designated by Tehran for ⁠safe ⁠passage through the strait, adding that deviations or failure to comply with navigation protocols would face an immediate response.