Palestinians: Israeli NSO spyware found on officials’ phones

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian Foreign Ministry says it has detected spyware developed by the Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group on the phones of three senior officials. It accused Israel of using the military-grade Pegasus software to eavesdrop on them. The accusation on Thursday comes after the software was detected on the phones of six Palestinian human rights activists. Three worked for civil society organizations that Israel has controversially branded as terrorist groups. The embattled NSO Group has meanwhile called off the appointment of a new chief executive in the wake of U.S. accusations its products are used by repressive governments. Israeli officials declined to comment.