France arrests alleged Chinese spies living in small village—four arrests so far
February 11, 2026 7 Comments
FOUR MEN HAVE BEEN arrested in France on suspicion of spying for China using a system of parabolic antennas and computers installed at a rented property in the French countryside. The men were arrested last Saturday and Sunday by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), which focuses on counterterrorism and counterespionage.
Two of the arrests took place on-site at a property in Camblanes-et-Meynac, a picturesque village located around 10 miles from Bordeaux in south-western France’s Gironde region. The property had reportedly been rented through the rental broker application Airbnb by two Chinese nationals who arrived in France in January. They are believed to have entered the country using work visas as engineers for a wireless telecommunications firm.
After settling in Camblanes-et-Meynac, the men erected a large parabolic antenna system in the garden of the rented property. The move reportedly alarmed locals, who noticed that their own Internet service experienced disruptions following the erection of the parabolic antenna system by the Chinese nationals. A local family proceeded to alert local authorities about the antenna.
According to reports the DGSI arrested two Chinese nationals aged 27 and 29, while also seizing a substantial quantity of computer and satellite equipment that was found on the property. Two other men reportedly “of Chinese origin” but based in France, were also arrested over the weekend. They were charged with providing assistance to the two residents of the Airbnb property by illegally importing the satellite equipment installed on the property. Their identities have not been released by the authorities.
The French prosecutor’s office stated that the suspects were engaged in efforts to “capture satellite data from the Starlink [mobile broadband] network”. They were also allegedly trying to intercept communications data from “vital entities” in the military realm and “retransmit them to their country of origin”, namely China, according to the statement. They are now in custody facing charges of “delivering information to a foreign power […] likely to damage the interests” of France—a standard phraseology used in the French legal code to describe foreign espionage.
France’s Gironde region has long been an epicenter of espionage by international actors due to its proximity to a growing number of facilities and restricted sites related to critical telecommunication, aerospace, and defense industries. Several small towns and villages in the area are in proximity to the industrial core of France’s defense, space and aeronautics operations.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 February 2026 | Permalink
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IN THE CONCLUDING WEEKS of 2025, the Israel Intelligence Agency (ISA), which serves as its primary internal security and counterintelligence service, experienced two rapturous events that shook the organization to its very foundations. One was the appointment of Major General (retired) David Zini as the organization’s head. The other was the sudden retirement of the its deputy, known as ‘S’ (the first letter of his first name), who had been appointed to that position just two months earlier.
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intelNews.org 
Israelis with high-level clearances betted on military operations on Polymarket
February 23, 2026 by intelNews 1 Comment
Polymarket users are invited to bet “yes” or “no” on whether specific events will occur. These events may relate to political, sporting, cultural, security, environmental, or other fields. Prediction market platforms such as Polymarket match buyers and sellers for each event and hold the funds until the event occurs.
An Israeli court permitted publication that the two individuals were identified during a joint operation conducted by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the police. According to the indictment, the civilian and the reservist are charged with serious security offenses, alleging that they placed bets on the Polymarket website based on classified military information. The indictment further states that, in the course of their IDF duties, they were exposed to the inside information on which they relied when making bets. The reservist had access to classified intelligence concerning future IDF operations, and the civilian opened an account on Polymarket and placed the bets.
At the conclusion of the investigation, after an evidentiary foundation had been established against the civilian and the reservist, the prosecutor’s office indicted them on charges of serious security offenses, bribery offenses, and obstruction of justice. According to a formal statement: “It should be noted that in June 2025, the two successfully bet on the occurrence of four security events in Israel related to Operation ‘Am Kalavi’ (the Israeli attack on Iran in June 2025). They wagered tens of thousands of dollars and were correct, with remarkable accuracy, in predicting: Israel will attack Iran on Friday; Israel will attack Iran by the end of June 2025; Israel will announce the end of the operation in Iran by July; Israel will attack Iran before July.” According to one source, they earned $150,000.
It was further stated that: “the execution of such bets, relying on secret and classified information, poses a real security risk to the activities of the IDF and to state security. The State of Israel views the acts attributed to the defendants with great severity and will act resolutely to thwart and bring to justice any person involved in the illegal use of classified information.” According to the findings of the investigation, no operational harm resulted from the Israeli attack on Iran in June 2025. The statement added: “The IDF will not tolerate this type of conduct. Following the incident, steps were taken, and procedures will be tightened across all IDF units to prevent similar incidents from recurring.”
The remaining details of the affair remain prohibited from publication for security reasons.
► Author: Avner Barnea* | Date: 23 February 2026 | Permalink
* Dr. Avner Barnea is a research fellow at the National Security Studies Center of the University of Haifa in Israel. He served as a senior officer in the Israel Security Agency (ISA). He is the author of We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence (Lexington Books, 2021).
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