A Mossad agent, identified as M., was killed abroad during operations against Iran, Mossad Director David Barnea said on Tuesday during a Remembrance Day ceremony for the organization's fallen.
"The operations led by M. combined creativity, cunning, and technology and significantly influenced the success of the campaign against Iran," Barnea said at the ceremony.
"During Operation Roaring Lion, my heart filled with pride for M.’s character and actions. The operations they commanded combined creativity, cunning, and advanced technology, significantly influencing the success of the operation against Iran," Barnea stated.
Barnea did not specify who M. was, when they fell, or during which incident. He did not say where M. fell, only noting that it was outside of Israel's borders.
After the initial announcement, Israeli media reported that M. died in Italy in 2023 while working with Italian intelligence to prevent Tehran from obtaining advanced weapons.
Boat sinks in Lake Maggiore, killing Mossad agent, two Italian agents, working against Iran
He was killed in Lake Maggiore, north of Milan, near the Swiss border, when his boat sank, killing him, two members of Italian intelligence, and the wife of the ship's captain.
He was buried in Ashkelon later that year, in a funeral attended by the Mossad's senior leadership wearing hats and face masks.
At the time, Barnea had described M. as "a man of refined manners, a lover of humanity, kind-hearted, calm, and quiet."
"He was a man of people. Adults and youth, strangers and Israelis always surrounded him, and he knew how to speak to them all in their language, in every sense of the word, in a calm and respectful manner."
M. served in the Mossad for 30 years, according to those who had been close to the agent.
Barnea's speech on Tuesday is the first public mention of M.'s death.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this story.