Key keywords: US intelligence warnings, Israel assassination plot allegations, Iran ceasefire negotiators, 2024 Gaza ceasefire talks, Biden administration Middle East policy, Iranian diplomatic security, Israeli military covert operations, international diplomatic norms A bombshell new report based on interviews with 12 current and former U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials, first published by The Intercept on July 18, 2024, reveals that senior U.S. national security officials held urgent, high-level talks with Israeli counterparts in late May 2024 to warn them against a planned covert operation to assassinate Iran’s top representatives involved in indirect Gaza ceasefire negotiations hosted in Doha, Qatar. U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted internal communications between Israeli military and Mossad operatives detailing plans to target three senior Iranian officials: two senior foreign ministry diplomats leading Iran’s engagement with Qatar and Hamas on ceasefire terms, and a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force official who coordinates Iranian support for Palestinian militant groups. The plot, according to the intelligence, was scheduled to take place while the negotiators were leaving a closed-door negotiating session in Doha, with Israeli operatives planning to use a targeted roadside explosive device to avoid direct attribution. U.S. officials immediately flagged the plot to Israeli national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi during a previously unreported emergency call, warning that the assassination would immediately collapse all ongoing ceasefire efforts, trigger immediate Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israeli and U.S. assets across the Middle East, and potentially spark a full-scale regional war that would put more than 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in the region at direct risk. The officials also noted that targeting diplomatic negotiators during active talks would violate core international law and undermine global norms of diplomatic immunity, leaving U.S. diplomats operating in conflict zones at greater risk of retaliatory attacks in the future. Israeli officials initially denied any knowledge of the plot, before acknowledging the plan after U.S. representatives shared specific intelligence details including the names of the operatives involved and the timeline of the planned attack. Israeli authorities subsequently told U.S. officials they would “shelve” the operation indefinitely, though U.S. intelligence reports indicate that Israeli forces have continued to monitor the movements of the Iranian negotiators in the weeks since. The revelation has amplified growing tensions between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government over the future of the Gaza war, with the White House pushing for an immediate 6-week ceasefire to facilitate the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid, while far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have repeatedly rejected any ceasefire agreement that leaves Hamas in control of any part of Gaza. Iranian officials later confirmed they had received third-party warnings of the plot, and have increased security details for all diplomatic staff involved in regional negotiation efforts.